A major obstacle to the jobless crisis in the UK is the poor attitude towards work by the long term unemployed, according to the Centre for Social Justice, a non-profit think tank. When school leavers are not mentally prepared for working, it can be hard for recruitment consultants to help them.

A survey and employer interviews revealed that commitment to working hard, punctuality and presentation are more important than literacy and numeracy skills when it comes to entry level jobs. These jobs include jobs in hospitality, catering, retail and manufacturing. These jobs make up approximately 33% of Britain’s workforce.

Based on the research, employers would pass on candidates who had poor attitudes to work and who’s presentation left a lot to be desired. The Centre for Social Justice is campaigning for the amendment of the education system to incorporate education strategies that would instil a sense of responsibility into teenagers.

Gavin Poole, the executive director of the Centre for Social Justice, said, "Many employers told us that they believe students should leave education "work ready" and that currently too many students fall short.

He continued to say, "Timekeeping, self-awareness, confidence, presentation, communication, teamwork and an ability to understand workplace relationships are too often below the standard required, particularly in younger job seekers.

Recruitment offices have their hands full at the moment, with approximately 20,000 students unemployed six months after graduation, which is a 50pc increase on the numbers recorded before the recession hit. The data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency also shows that a record 83 graduates are applying for each graduate position. The hardest hit have been those seeking employment in media and computing fields, with one in seven graduates having to resort to job seekers allowances. Thousands of graduates have also been forced to take low skilled jobs to make a living whilst looking for a job in the field of their studies. Mr David Willetts, the Universities Minister was hopeful for an improvement, and said, "The graduate jobs market is showing encouraging signs of improvement, with an increase in employment for the first time since the beginning of the recession.” “However, new graduates still need to work hard to maximise their chances of success. The higher education White Paper outlines proposals that will deliver a greater focus on graduate employability.”

Despite being inundated with applications, employers are struggling to fill vacancies. This is largely due to a flood of applications from unsuitable candidates, according to the CIPD Resourcing and Talent Planning survey, run in partnership with Hays.

The report was published on the 15th of June and shows that 73% of the organisations surveyed have felt an increase in unsuitable applications being made for vacancies. This is put down to high levels of unemployment. Just over half the employers surveyed believe, however, that competition for talent is higher than it has been for the last two years.

Three quarters of recruiting employers have been experiencing difficulties in filling vacancies, largely due to a lack of skills. Management and technical positions are the toughest to fill.

The trade body which represents recruitment professionals across the UK has launched a new dedicated regional group on the Isle of Man.

The Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP) has been set up with the full support of the Isle of Man’s Chamber of Commerce.

Their joint aim is to raise standards in recruitment on the Island and to this end the IRP will be closely involved with the future activity of Chamber’s recruitment working party, comprising of key members of several of the Island’s leading recruitment agencies, including Hamblin, OSA and Paragon.

Debbie Harris, recently appointed as IRP’s Regional Director for the Isle of Man, has been involved in recruitment on the Island for the past 14 years and is a Director of Paragon Recruitment.

Commenting on the establishment of the group, Debbie Harris said: ‘We want to promote the message that recruitment is a reputable and credible profession. Through the IRP, we now have a defined and supportive framework to assist individuals and organisations to establish and raise standards, as well as providing clients with an industry benchmark and a confidence in the level of service IRP members pledge to provide.’

Read the full story on the Isle of Man Isle News website.

Around 200 ex-armed forces personnel will be recruited in order to help the telecommunications company to deliver fibre broadband to UK homes and businesses.

BT’s Openreach division is looking to hire ex-armed forces men and women to join its mobile engineering workforce this month (May 2011). Almost 3,000 full time engineers are already committed to meeting BT’s aim of delivering ‘super-fast’ broadband to two thirds of UK premises by 2015.

The Career Transition Partnership, Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Right Management are all working with BT Openreach to provide training and support for those leaving the armed forces.

Lt Cdr Mark Walker, from MoD’s Training, Education, Skills and Resettlement staff says: “We are delighted that Openreach has recognized the talent, skills and versatility of our Service leavers, especially targeting them for recruitment. We strongly welcome this initiative, and its promise of rewarding employment and career opportunities for many former Armed Forces personnel.”

Read the full story from the Grapevine.

Interesting news in the recruitment industry is that the number of people resigning from their jobs has fallen to a five-year low as workers have little choice but to “ride out economic uncertainty”, research has revealed. This report by the Telegraph.

Employees are increasingly putting up with modest wage increases just to hang on to their jobs in the present climate, the annual study of the labour market found.

Just 3.9pc of staff quit their jobs in the year to January 31, compared with 4.7pc the year before, the analysis by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and XpertHR showed.

Employees were also less inclined to transfer to new roles internally, the survey found, with many happy to lie low in their current jobs.

The average pay rise was just 2.2pc in the 12 months to February – the lowest wage increase in more than a decade, the analysis showed.

Read the full article.
Apply for recruitment jobs.

Hays, the UK’s biggest recruitment agency, said the British employment market remained fragile, as public sector job cuts continued to bite and hiring in the City slowed. This report from the Financial Times.

With government figures showing the total number of unemployed at its highest level since 1994, the recruitment agency said there was little sign that the private sector was creating enough jobs to offset cuts in state spending.

Hiring in the financial services sector – a bright spot last year – also faltered in the three months to April.

Paul Venables, finance director, said: “Twelve months ago, every one of our financial institution clients were recruiting across the board. Now it is much more surgical with people only being recruited in areas which are really making money like debt origination.”

Read the full article from the Financial Times.

Jersey's social security minister has said people claiming income support have a responsibility to go out and get work when it is available, reports the BBC.

Deputy Ian Gorst wants to increase work incentive money paid to individuals and families on income support in Jersey.

He said it would help ensure people are better off in work than at home.

Deputy Gorst said: "In order to access the money you would have to show you are taking your responsibility seriously."

He said people would have to show they are actually trying to find work.

The minister said it would mean families claiming income support would be motivated to seize all job opportunities.

Read the full article.

Recruiter Michael Page more than trebled its profit in 2010 with solid growth in its main markets, as it bounced back from a year which it described as the most challenging in its history, reports the Telegraph.

Michael Page, which recruits people in the financial, accounting and legal services sectors, on Monday posted a 242.7pc rise in pre-tax profit to £72.2m for the year to December, compared with £21.1m in 2009. Revenue increased 16.1pc to £832.2m.

In 2009, the company saw its pre-tax profit fall 85pc as the economic downturn hit the recruitment markets hard and heralded a slow and fragile recovery.

The FTSE 250 company said 2010 had seen good growth in Asia, Latin America, the big markets in Europe and the Middle East and an improving picture in the UK amid tough market conditions.

"We have maintained a strong balance sheet and, while increasing the returns to shareholders, we have also continued to take a long-term approach by making significant investments in the future of the business, opening in Chile, India, Malaysia and Qatar" said Steve Ingham, chief executive.

Read the full article.

A Devon worker has repaid £2m mistakenly paid to him by his employer, reports the BBC.

The engineer, who makes turbine blades at Alcoa Howmet in Exeter, normally earns £2,000 and was stunned at the massive windfall in his monthly salary.

But before the company even noticed the money was missing, the employee contacted his manager.

An Alcoa spokesman said: "It is a good example of the quality of people we have at our company. The sum of money involved was a significant amount." They clearly recruit engineers of good character.

The company said the matter was being taken seriously and the employee's honest and prompt action would be recognised.

Read the full article.