Monday 26 November 2012

New recruitment service for global agri-food businesses

Specialist support service provider for the global agri-food business, Red River People, is now moving into recruitment with two new appointments.

The UK-based company has undergone considerable growth over the past two years and is moving into this field to help maintain its position as a leading training and development business in the food, agribusiness and biotechnology sectors.

Angela Lock has been appointed senior recruitment consultant to head the company’s new recruitment services, and is joined by another experienced specialist Jane Hobson.

Angela Lock has 16 years’ experience in this field including 10 years running her own successful consultancy. Previously she held senior management roles in the retail recruitment sector, and in recent years has been involved in human resources as well as training and business support.

Jane Hobson has worked in advertising, marketing and logistical recruitment, and over the past decade has worked on a variety of private and public sector contracts.

The Red River People recruitment services provide innovative executive search for high-level appointments to specialist consultants for key assignments, graduate programmes and individual counselling.

Duncan Jones, business development director, says the move into recruitment reflects the increasing demand for talented, skilled people to fill key roles in expanding business in the food sectors.

“We are building on our team’s experience of large, integrated businesses particularly in the food sector at the highest level in the UK and internationally,” says Duncan Jones, who has himself wide experience across agriculture, finance, retail, travel and energy, with particular interest in developing leadership skills.

“At Red River People we’re very familiar with the specific demands of the sector. We appreciate the need for talented people, professional support services — and not least capital and equity resources to drive success.

“Many of the major players in our target markets, such as the poultry and pig sectors, are global businesses who recognise the need for high-level management and leadership skills.”

After progressing to executive board level in a nutritional feed and supplements business, Mr Jones developed his own consultancy in 1987 providing development programmes in leadership, management and team development for multi-national organisations.

His expertise in managing change and culture integration is reflected in being an adviser to a major multi-national company’s world leadership programme, and he also serves on a regional government advisory group.

? Red River People, headquartered in Essex in the UK, with satellite offices in Australia and South Africa, offers agri-food industry expertise in operations, technical, innovation, people and change management.

The development services enable companies to outsource their human resources, providing advice on employment and contractual issues, change and transformation, management and business training, remuneration, rewards and executive coaching.

The business enterprise services focus on management ‘buy in’ activities, mergers and acquisitions, equity investments, business alliances and greenfield projects. A further service will link clients to specialists in the agribusiness, food and biotech sectors.

Sunday 25 November 2012

Recruitment company sees rising wage pressure

There's widening disparity in wages between the semi and under-skilled workers and skilled workers in high demand in certain industries.

Recruitment company Hays says while wages have not kept up with inflation, there is wage pressure for highly skilled workers, especially in construction.

It says that indicates skill shortages for key talent.

Hays spokesman Jason Walker says their latest report suggests a three point plan to combat the mismatch of skills availability, including the need to attract the relevant people through targeted immigration.

That includes overseas workers, incentives and what sort of courses are being offered.

Sunday 11 November 2012

Recruitment agencies facing £25k pensions setup hit

The ‘substantial’ cost to recruitment agencies of pension auto-enrolment has been revealed by professional employment organisation Parasol.

Research carried out by Parasol forecasts that agencies employing temporary workers on a PAYE basis could face an initial setup cost of at least £25,000, as they battle to get to grips with the legislation.
This figure includes three months of senior internal resource, legal advice, director input, time spent engaging with clients, plus payroll software upgrades.

Parasol arrived at the sum after consulting with agencies to find out the steps they intend to take in preparation for the legislation, though the exact cost will naturally vary for each agency. 

According to Parasol’s modelling, an agency with 800 workers who earn an average of £18,000 a year on PAYE can expect a total year-one cost of around £81,995 from the October 2013 staging date if 60% of workers opt out.

If just 30% of agency workers decide to opt out, the projected cost – including initial setup – rises to £111,242.

Meanwhile, Parasol estimates that compliance with the legislation will cost a smaller agency – with about 250 workers each earning £25,000 annually on PAYE – a total of £49,812 assuming an opt-out rate of 60%.
The predicted cost to an agency of this size, over the first 12 months from the February 2014 staging date, would increase to £64,200 if 30% of workers opt out. 

Anita Whittle, Chief Operating Officer at Parasol, said: “The new pension auto-enrolment legislation is undoubtedly going to have a major impact on all recruitment agencies that pay workers directly – both from an administrative and a cost perspective.

“In terms of costs, there are not only pension contributions to consider, but also the costs of setting up the pension scheme where agencies will need to take external and costly advice. In addition, changes will most likely need to be made to internal systems.

“Finally, there are also ongoing costs associated with the administration of the pension scheme. Resources will need to be allocated to managing new processes such as assessing workers, opting workers in and out of the scheme, communicating with the pension provider and making the required deductions from workers’ pay.”

Warrington-based Parasol has provided professional employment services to more than 47,000 employees since its launch in 2000.

The company works with major recruiters including Hays, Alexander Mann Solutions, Capita Resourcing and Reed. Parasol offers contractors full employment and employment rights, saving agencies money and mitigating the risks they are exposed to.

Anita added: “The auto-enrolment legislation is undoubtedly well intentioned, but coming hot on the heels of AWR it creates yet another headache for recruitment agencies that are working hard to maintain margins in the face of challenging market conditions.

“Obviously the cost of the legislation to an individual agency will depend on the specific measures it decides to take. However, our research clearly demonstrates that large parts of the recruitment industry will have to shoulder a significant financial and administrative burden.  

“It is likely that some clients will resist attempts to pass on the cost of auto-enrolment. Many agencies that pay workers directly through PAYE schemes will therefore have no option but to examine the alternatives on offer, such as using professional employment organisations, in order to limit their liability and remain competitive.” 

For more information on Parasol’s calculations, visit: http://www.parasolgroup.co.uk/for-recruiters/pensions/pensions-calculator/

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Proof WA needs foreign workers

An extensive report has backed business claims that more migrant workers are needed in WA. 
The report, released today, concluded that Australians in the eastern states were too reluctant to make the move west, and universities are not adequately preparing students.
Numerous WA resource companies are forking out between $7000 and $65,000 on each application to bring in an overseas worker on a 457 visa because they cannot attract workers from the east.
The Edith Cowan University research found government incentives to encourage people to cross the Nullarbor were not enough, forcing businesses to recruit elsewhere.
Lead researcher Susanne Bahn said Australian workers viewed relocating to WA as the equivalent to moving overseas and government initiatives were not enough of an enticement.

"With a lack of willing or available Australian recruits, resources companies are left with little alternative other than to plug the recruitment gaps with specialist skilled migrant workers," she said.

While Dr Bahn is not the first to voice this view, it is understood that this is the first time the matter has been  thoroughly researched.

During the research, Dr Bahn questioned resources companies and recruitment agents about their use of the 457 visa.

"Participants indicated that they had encountered reluctance from Australian recruits about relocating to WA," she said.

"Moving away from family and friends, the fly-in, fly-out working arrangements, a lack of social infrastructure and accommodation with reasonable rents, and the perceived high cost of living were the main reasons."
Dr Bahn also found resource companies sometimes required highly skilled workers who had received specialist training often not available in Australia.

Migrant workers could help up-skill the Australian workforce and better prepare graduates to “hit the ground running”.

"The resources companies want graduates that can hit the ground running, graduates who can take responsibility for multimillion dollar equipment for example," Dr Bahn said.

"We found that there is a lack of 'work ready' university graduates.

"Higher education institutions need to rethink how they deliver courses that feed the resources sector to include more on the job placements for the duration of their degree.

"Highly skilled migrant workers can also pass on their knowledge and skills to Australian workers thereby training them in new and innovative practices.

"Modern Australian has been built through skilled migration and it appears that this is a trend that is likely to continue with benefits for workers, employers and the nation," Dr Bahn said.

Unions have been outspoken in their opposition to enterprise migration agreements which would see a portion of workforces on some big resource projects being brought in from other countries.

In light of the report's findings, national resource industry employer group Australian Mines and Metals Association is calling for wider acknowledgement and acceptance of these challenges in public and political debate on enterprise migration agreements, 457 visa schemes and temporary skilled migration more generally.

AMMA executive director Minna Knight said government figures showed that of the 45,000 new jobs in Australian mining created in 2012, 98.7 per cent were filled by Australian workers.

"However this industry study demonstrates that temporary migration schemes are still very important to Australia's overall skills strategy," Ms Knight said.