Perm Staff Still Hit By Recession Pay Cuts

July 19, 2010 - PRLog -- As over three quarters of permanent staff continue to feel the pay crunch, temporary agency workers’ flexibility and ability to plug interim gaps has seen them escape the worst of the salary cuts, meaning a continued growth  in popularity.

A recent report by recruitment consultants Badenoch & Clark Some 77 per cent of staff who accepted a pay reduction in order to avoid redundancy have not seen their pay return to pre-recession levels.

The survey also found that employers were using alternative benefits in order to retain and motivate staff. Over a third (38 per cent) of employees were being offered flexible working hours, while almost a fifth had access to remote working facilities or additional annual leave (16 per cent).

The problem many employees face when holding onto permanent staff is that they must attempt to satisfy and remunerate them in times of recession as a method of long term sustainability and a continued workforce.

With the struggles of the companies in recent years, coupled with employees’ disenchantment at the prospect of continued underpay, both parties view the temporary work route as a medium-term solution to being tied down for too long a period where the outlook looks les than rosy.

The new waves of temporary agency workers also see the upcoming Agency Workers Regulations as a valuable safety net to continue to work interim projects without the fear of pay imparity or unfair treatment to permanent staff.

Matthew Sanders, CEO of de Poel, the number one procurers of temporary agency labour, was not surprised by the recent stats, alluding to a future where temporary agency workers could be not just a stop gap, but the preferred method of operation. He said: “It’s understandable that both business and the employees themselves are treating temporary agency work as more than just a stop gap. The value is there for both to utilise.

“The businesses get the expertise of a wide variety of individuals, who can in turn offer outside perspectives and skills on site; whereas the workers get the flexibility and enjoyment of working on a number of different projects.”

The three quarters of staff whom are still feeling the bite of agreeing to the pay cuts may now be looking at their temporary counterparts and thinking that they might have the right idea. The landscape of the temporary agency worker may be in for a bit of an overhaul…

For more information on the Agency workers Regulations go to http://www.depoel.co.uk/content/agency-workers-directive

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de Poel are the number 1 procurers of temporary workers, saving its clients over £500M every year. For our customers we cut costs, reduce administrative burden, bring visability and transparancy, raise compliance and improve cashflow.