January

"A recent survey by recruitment firm, Oilandgaspeople.com, has revealed that social media is being used extensively by some recruiters to both find and reject suitable candidates. The survey of more than 7,000 recruitment companies, HR managers and recruiters in the UK found that 82% of employers have looked up potential candidates on social media sites, while some 64% have rejected a job application after viewing a candidate 's social media profile. According to the findings, 88% of recruiters used LinkedIn for candidate recruitment, with 25% using Facebook and 8% using Twitter. A third of recruiters said they found candidates on industry-based job boards, but traditional print ad job advertising had fallen in popularity, with 63% of recruiters saying social media was now considered to be more effective. ""Social media is now a powerful recruitment tool for getting the right person in position faster and cheaper than traditional forms of advertising,"" said Kevin Forbes, CEO of Oilandgaspeople.com. The survey also revealed that 77% of recruiters felt that social media provided them with better access to candidates and 41% said it gave them better insight into whether candidates were suitable."

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a warning to employers about the importance of making sure temporary staff - who regularly handle personal information - receive adequate data protection training. It states that the problem has been highlighted following four data breaches at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust. The ICO's investigation found that three of the incidents related to the work of temporary staff who had not received adequate data protection training, despite their role routinely involving the handling of personal information. In addition, it reported that the trust had no measures to check whether letters were being addressed to the correct recipient before sending.

UK recruiters are optimistic about the future of the industry as we head into 2014, with 74% declaring that this year has been better than 2012, and 18% stating that business has remained on an even keel. Mercury xRM software developer and recruitment expert Crimson Limited, polled 88 businesses from its recruitment partner network on their business levels for 2013 and found that three quarters of recruiters in the UK were celebrating a good year for business, with just two percent of recruiters stating that 2013 had been a poor year. Eleven percent described 2013 as a 'fantastic ' year for business. These figures highlight the optimism within the recruitment industry at a time when the wider UK economy is starting to show signs of recovery and growth. In fact, the British economy is rising faster than any other major advanced economy in the world and 400,000 jobs are expected to be created in the UK between now and the end of the financial year in March 2014. The jobs market in Scotland is particularly booming with vacancy figures back to the number recorded at the pre-recession level. This upward trend in job creation is creating tougher competition for the highest quality staff and turning businesses towards specialist recruitment agencies, best placed to fill highly skilled vacancies.