A quarter of those surveyed said that they plan to work during the two bank holiday weekends. Many are using the time to catch up on paperwork that has built up over the last month. This double bank holiday will undoubtedly see many people catch up on outstanding tasks, but even more people would have enjoyed the great weather.

The balance between work and life can be hard to find, even more so if you are a contractor, if you are focused and driven it can be tempting to spend all your free time catching up or doing more work, however, periods of rest are vital to your health and long term productivity.

As many of you know the best way to find a balance and optimise your time is to stay organised. This will ensure you get the most done and still make time for recreational activities.

The work load may be why a staggering two thirds of IT workers have said they want to work abroad.

According to The IT Job Board candidate job market survey 67% of IT workers are considering or have applied for IT-related jobs outside of the UK. This is very worrying for an industry who is currently constrained by the limited amount of talent out there at the moment.

Managing director at The IT Job Board, Alex Farrell, stated:

“I was very alarmed to read these statistics – clearly large numbers of UK IT professionals have either made the move overseas at some stage in their career, or this is something they are planning,”

“If this boils down to quality of the jobs on offer in the UK, or low salaries, then companies need to work hard to improve their offering, in order to attract and retain staff.”

“At a time when we are suffering an IT skills shortage, we cannot afford to lose key talent,”

“The onus lies with business managers to develop and nurture their employees and to make the UK’s IT job market an attractive one to work in.

The IT industry doesn’t really have as strong a community in the UK as it should for a country with hi-tech ambitions, and IT has suffered in the UK as a result. We have seen a lack of education, skills shortages, weak government projects and the intention of many to leave is yet another symptom of a greater problem.

We need to see a technological movement that is able to attract and maintain a vibrant IT industry, without this we will get left behind other countries that do have this. Sweden and the US both have a strong IT community and getting one could be vital to the growth of the UK economy as a whole.

In other news the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) hosted a meeting with the Department for Business, Innovation and skills (BIS), to allow its members, made up of recruitment consultants and HR managers, to query the AWR draft guidance.

They only had a two week window in which to query the guidance, and this meeting was their main vehicle for this. There was a forensic legal breakdown of the guidance by ARC chairman, Adrian Marlowe, allowing the BIS to provide clarification and examples.

A vote by attendees that it would not be helpful to include self-employment tests in the guidance on the basis that a tick-box approach would open recruiters up to too many risks.

The main points to have come out of the meeting include:

Acknowledgement that “one-hour employment contracts” do not comply, and the Swedish Derogation model needs further clarification to ensure that employers are not in breach of the AWR.

A vote by attendees that it would not be helpful to include self-employment tests in the guidance on the basis that a tick-box approach would open recruiters up to too many risks.

It is interesting that a simple tick box approach would be rejected by the “180 recruitment and HR professionals in attendance”. What is not clear is the approach that contractors prefer, any comments on this would be useful.

Author Bio: Article written by Taj Kang, Associate Director at Contractor Mortgages Made EasyTo contact us regarding this article e-mail: media@contractormortgagesuk.com

Category: Career
Keywords: Contractor Mortgage, Contractor, Mortgage, Contractors, Mortgages