UK body warns firms to consider skills in recruitingA UK employment body has warned British firms to evaluate their employees’ attributes and how they will affect growth during an economic recovery.

Tom Hadley, director of external relations at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said that any company looking to expand in the future needed to consider skills sets to support this ambition and whether it required additional staff or experts to make it a reality.

He said that it is essential for firms to contemplate future recruitment as confidence returns, but understood that public sector uncertainty could have an impact on the private sector.

"On the positive side, there are signs of increased hiring activity in the private sector which will provide important outlets for any public sector workers directly affected by the expenditure squeeze," he added.

This follows research by Reed, which indicated that employer demand for new staff increased by one per cent between April and May

By Hayley Edwards