Contractors jobs 'likely to increase in next three months'

The Emergency Budget's austerity measures are unlikely to suppress the market for temporary and contractor jobs.

Temporary and contractors jobs are likely to increase in the next three months despite the austerity measures outlined in the Emergency Budget, it has been suggested.

Figures published by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) show that 18 per cent of employers believe that the short-term use of contingent labour will increase in the third quarter, although this has fallen by five percentage points.

Despite this, the organisation has claimed that the longer-term outlook for contractors is better, with the workforce set to exhibit net gains over the next 12 months.

Roger Tweedy, director of research at the group, claimed that the Emergency Budget and the world's economic uncertainty are impacting on hiring intentions.

He said: "As public spending cuts begin in earnest, we believe flexible temporary and interim staffing will be essential to the ultimate re-engineering of the sector."

Chris Potter, technology assurance partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, recently claimed that the unwillingness of companies to commit to permanently placing staff is creating an environment which benefits contractors.