According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), employment increased by 202,000 in the three months to March driving the employment rate to 73.5 percent. Average pay including bonuses was also up by 1.9 percent on an annual basis.
In response to the latest figures, Ann Swain Chief Executive at APSCo comments; “The continued rise in employment levels, and associated positivity in the market, is almost tangible to those working within the recruitment profession. Indeed, our latest Professional Recruitment Trends Report found that permanent vacancies increased 20 percent in the year to March 2015, with contract vacancies also up 9 percent. Greater stability post-election and as the economy continues to show strong signs of vitality, I see no signs of this upward trend abating.
Ann Swain continues; “Needless to say, a healthy economy will always have a positive impact on remuneration as employers compete for talent. The ONS’s figures are in line with APSCo’s latest data, which revealed that that median salaries across the professional sectors that it represents were up by a robust 1.9 percent year-on-year. With inflation currently at 0 percent, wages are growing more rapidly in real terms than this raw data suggests.”
Up to 80 percent of recruitment consultants believe their organisation ‘could do more’ to increase the inclusion of disabled people according to research commissioned by the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI). The study also found that almost half (42 percent) of those surveyed do not have a clear understanding of the definition of ‘disability’ and one in three recruiters (35 percent) don’t feel confident in their approach to managing applications from disabled candidates. Commenting on the survey, Kate Headley, Director of Consulting at the Clear Company and spokesperson for the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative said: “Over 18 percent of working age adults have a disability yet it seems that many hirers could improve their approach to engaging with these jobseekers.
It’s encouraging to see that recruiters have recognised the need to enhance their offering to disabled candidates and I hope that this realisation will act as a catalyst for change. The fact that almost half of recruiters are unsure about the very definition of disability – that is, a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities – indicates the root of this lack in confidence.
Greater understanding surrounding the needs of disabled candidates is integral to improving processes. Despite this apparent knowledge gap, the signs are positive that attitudes to disability in the workplace are improving. Almost three quarters (74 percent) of respondents recognise disabled candidates as an untapped talent pool and two thirds (66 percent) of those surveyed have made positive changes to their approach to inclusion in recent years.
Headley continues: “The benefits of truly representative teams are hard to ignore, namely the advantages of having greater access to different perspectives and sources of information. The recruitment profession holds the key to changing perceptions about disability throughout the entire labour market and I’d like to congratulate those organisations taking positive steps to increase the inclusion of disabled people.
Small changes in processes can make a huge difference to the disabled candidates’ recruitment experience. Recruiters and employers who would like to do more to increase the inclusion of disabled people should go back to basics and review each stage of the employment cycle from job descriptions to appointment processes – a fresh perspective can often identify barriers which are easy to remove.”
