Reed’s own index of vacancies fell 2% in comparison to March which was itself down against the figures supplied for February.

I’ve long been a fan of the Government’s plan to reduce the wage bill on the Public sector, however, I do feel that they need to do a lot more to stimulate the Private sector.

Visiting the Reed.co.uk website to view its homepage will itself highlight the extent of our ‘Private Sector’. We are so dependent upon  such a small number of firms to engage our Public sector workers that I fail to see how the two will marry in the middle.

I know that jobsites are not the greatest way of judging employment trends, but I think that Reed in particular showcase the problem brilliantly.

Their sponsored home page clients include:

Lloyds TSB

Churchill Insurance

Santander

Tesco

Direct Line

Nationwide Building Society

Now, I don’t think you have to be an employment trend expert to realize the problem with our ‘Private Sector’ it’s basically all linked to big, big companies who wish to grow their businesses even further. We’re talking the Big Supermarkets, the Big Banks, the Big Utility firms (Water Companies, Electricity, Gas)

Where are the great firms that we were promised would be born out of the recession? Where are the next big names coming from? Where are the firms that in five years time will be employing and creating opportunity for 5,000+ people? If we are to remain completely dependent upon Tesco and the ilk picking up our public sector fall out then surely we have to review the system?

The ex-Public Sector workforce present big problems for potential employers, in many cases the public sector workforce don’t get the Private sector, they don’t understand how it works and when you consider many people are going to be in their 40s and onwards its going to be a difficult lesson to learn.  They need to showcase commercial acumen, and embrace the values and the brand of their potential new employer.

I hope that Reed’s findings are only relevant because of the obscure nature of Easter and the Royal Wedding and we return to some normality, but I really home that we begin to see Leading Employers of the future, soon. Very soon.

This week has been a BAD week for the unemployed of the United Kingdom and the news seems to be about to get worse. Louise Peacock in this week’s Daily Telegraph that confirmed that young people were about to bare the brunt of changes

The total number of unemployed people in the UK has risen a further 27,000 to a record high of 2.53 million, which means that 20% of all unemployment is within the ‘youth’ sector. This issue has been made significantly worse by the fact that public sector employment levels are falling with an extra 45,000 falling off the figures of those employed within the public sector.

There is clearly a void between the vacancies available, those searching for employment and the expectations of all concerned.

Today, I am going to pose a question, should those of us in the recruitment industry take on a wider level of responsibility? We have the skills required to help, lead, guide, and motivate the young people who are clearly rattling around the job market with very little guidance?

We as recruiters are paid on results, we are paid to deliver the right CV for the right job, but do we have a wider social responsibility? Should we be helping the people who don’t match? Should we try and help those who send their CVs with obvious mistakes? Should we try and find the time to offer our inside knowledge?

And should we do this for nothing? No financial reward? Just helping our fellow man in a time when all around is being more difficult? Recruitment exists because we service the requirements of staffing for our clients, but what about the people that don’t find work, the people that are caught up in a cycle that doesn’t support their ambitions and desire to work for a living?

I’d love your thoughts on this both as a principle, its feasibility and its suitability for the current market and your view on whether this is true innoivation and the future of the recruitment industry as we know it?

Lets get some elements straight; Manchester United is a business, recent reports confirm that Manchester United’s turnover topped £285,000,000. The business has employees as any business does of which a small number are paid to play football. Lets not forget the Marketing, Sales, and Finance Directors that occupy the buildings or offices around Old Trafford that make it all happen. From the licence agreements, to sponsorship and even corporate deals it’s all there.

Anyone business owner or employee will know that your employees are your assets, they are the people that assist the business in making money, however, they also know that no employee should commit an act that would knowingly bring their employer into disrepute, or indeed to commit an act of gross misconduct.

Mr. Rooney’s actions over the past six months have indeed done that, form his prostitute liaisons through to publically slamming his employer, he has done more damage to his employer and indeed their sponsors than any good he has achieved whilst employed by Manchester United.

So, the question is ‘how did football become completely removed from the employer and employee relationship model?’

At the same time as perusing the news paper I also watched the qualifying session from South Korea. Wayne Rooney is indeed one of the UK’s top sports stars, but then so is Lewis Hamilton, and of course Jenson Button. In the latter two we have two professional, responsible young men who represent not only their team but every person that has assisted them to get to the dizzy heights of Formula One World Champion.Of course, there are cynics that dislike the modern advertising and corporate lead F1, but it is a sport in the same way that Manchester United is a business. Both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are employees, they are paid not only to win F1 races, but to act as ambassadors for their companies values, beliefs and to promote the brands that associate themselves with the stars.

So, two very wealthy sports, three very wealthy young men, and a mere 209 miles between the base in Manchester to HQ in Woking but a world apart.

No employee would be forgiven for committing the same sins that Wayne has partaken in this week. Not only has be brought his employer, his sponsors but he has also brought his industry down. People who know nothing of football and are not interested in the Saturday routine have an opinion, they now believe that football has overstepped the mark.

Isn’t it funny how his actions in almost any other industry would lead to the delivery of your P45 and an escort from the premises, but in football it rewards you with an £8million a year pay rise.

I just hope that the owners of the football teams begin to see that they are businesses and therefore the players are the employees, they are not bigger than the employment law (contracts aside), they should be treated as employees and not investments because it sets an amazing precedent; a precedent that an employee is greater than their employer and that is something that just isn’t the case. It is the employer than negotiates the contract that pays your wages, puts in the infrastructure and support that you need to succeed.

I just hope Mr. Rooney remembers that.