Following last week’s support for contractors in the construction industry, the REC have once again spoken about the benefits of temporary and agency workers. Simon Noakes, of the REC’s Construction Group spoke about their commitment to encourage high standards in the recruitment and employment of construction workers, as well as working with groups such as UCATT.
He said, “It is crucial to move away from the perception that workers are systematically coerced into working on a flexible basis and that temporary and contract work is the source of all problems. Construction is a demand-led industry and working flexibly is a matter of choice for a high proportion of our workforce.”
Mr Noakes also believes that, “Flexible staffing arrangements are crucial to the delivery of most large-scale projects.”
The REC have also spoken about the benefits of temporary workers for organisations such as the NHS. Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of Policy and Professional Services, said that the NHS face major challenges over the next few years concerning managing staff and developing flexible resourcing models in line with the Health and Social Care bill.
He recommended that they “harness the contribution of suitably trained and vetted temporary and locum workers” in order to “provide crucial support to permanent staff who are already coming under unsustainable pressure.”
“Rather than seeing agency costs as one of the first budget lines to slash, we need to look at ways of enhancing the contribution that recruitment professionals can bring to an increasingly streamlined NHS. The reason that large private sector organisations make use of agency work is that it is an intrinsic part of a modern and cost-effective resourcing strategy. Public sector employers can learn from this.”
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