Credit crunch sucks

I thought you were a narrow minded prick, youve just proved it

Very little work eh?.....I own my own recruitment agency, have worked in the industry for 10 years before setting up (2 years ago), and even now Im working an average of 50 hours per week just to make sure it survives.

I carry the risk that should my company go bust, then my house and all personal finances are fucked. Could lose everything, and for someone who is married and has two children under the age of 3, thats one big risk.

Clients place vacancies with me, and come 4.30pm I dont just clock out and go home, I work till whatever time it takes (10.30pm last Thursday for one example) to fill that vacancy and fullfill my clients needs.

So many people RELY on agencies to get them work. We have access to literally 1000s of contacts in any particular area, contacts that you the individual would take months, if not years, to get.

A client of mine announced 200 redundancies before christmas, and so far, I have found jobs, both temporary and permanent, for over 50 of them. 50 men / women who can continue to provide for their families, so why the fuck shouldnt I be paid for doing this?

Candidates approach me either looking for me to find work for them, or to show an interest in a vacancy I have advertised (Im currently spending around £3k per month on advertising). They tell me what money they want to earn, so I then cover my costs and put a little profit on top, making sure the individual doesnt lose anything at all, but indeed the client pays for my services.

Every company aims to make money, regardless of what industry they operate within.

I have a Ltd Co Reg number, not a Charity Reg No.

I think Ive made my point, now fuck off back to finding music videos

The whole Rob Brown thing stopped being funny quite a while back now.....

Was that Sitel by any chance?

Which company do you work for mate?Has it been mass redundancies or just a few?

I worked as a supply teacher before getting my permanent teaching job, the agencies I worked for charged the school £165 per day, of that I got £90...thats £75 sheer profit!! They also charged my last school £2,000 for employing me on a permanent contract as they ''found me''.

It outstands me why companies use agency staff to be fair, my partner got made redundant in Oct and has been working for an agency since then for one of the emergency services....no holiday pay, sick pay...surley its most cost effective for them to employ him on a temporary contract?

Agencies are not the reason for the unemployment levels at the miniute. In fact they are probably helping!

People get confused when they work through Agencies, they hear of the rates Agencies charge employers & assume thats what they should actually be getting, incorrect. It's whats charged to the employer for sourcing a candidate.

Were you PAYE? If so, add 22% (Tax, Ers NI, etc) to your pay rate before the agency even covers cost, never mind makes profit. That alone is £109.80. They then may have to factor their invoices as the majority of us do, that averages at about 3% of the gross, in your case your charge rate is £165.00 plus 15% VAT of £24.75 equals £189.75 that they have to pay to be funded. 3% of that is the £5.69 factoring charge.

Total that up....
- Pay rate £90.00
- PAYE costs £19.80
- Factoring £5.69
TOTAL £115.49

Profit from charging £165.00 is £49.51. This £49.51 has to cover everything else, staff costs, office rent and rates, telephones, vehicles, print work, legal fees, advertising, plus many many more (I know, I pay them lol).

This also justifies why we charge a fee if they want to take you permanent, as we can no longer make a weekly margin from the person who in most cases, found us from advertising which costs a few few quid.

Im not being arsey in this reply, just trying to explain why we HAVE to operate as we do

I know loads of people slate them but in 10 years of working I've never been put into a shit job or been mugged over by any of them. I wouldnt have had any of the jobs Ive had over the last 3 years without them.

I guess if you let them do you over then they will but thats life.

Hahah, I know

Still seems like they are making loadsa £££'s though, without any true benefits of a real employee.

Your 'Kellys' situation is one of the main reasoning of me setting up for myself. All my working life, I worked for regionals and it was fantastic. Passion was always there, honesty never comprimised, then for some stupid reason, I took a job with Plc based in Newcastle, and within 6 month, I left! Then set up for myself and never looked back

Nationals / PLC's look at you simply as a number. Constant pressure no matter what you do for them, treat people like shit, always wanting increase in charge and decrease in pay. Its all a piss take, and its companies like this which make me realise why people have bad ideas of what recruitment agencies are about.

Im sure some wil say im wrong, but its just my experience

back to the original subject of being made unemployed, we have had so many customers at wor specifically coming in and asking for unemloyment cover. it used to be something that only people in lower paid/more manual jobs took out, but now council workers, teachers, and people who would ordinarily have never took it out are coming asking for it because noone can be 100% sure they are safe any more, even if youve worked for the same company for years as jametron has shown.

as i said in a previous post, it's not the answer for everyone but its piece of mind knowing that if you find it hard to get a job at least you know the bills are covered and it can give you a bit of breathing space.

i took some out last week and got it half price so it only costs £18 per month and it woul dpay out £1100 per month if i was unemployed so for such a small cost (which also includes a bit of life cover) it gives me huge piece of mind

I worked for an agency once. I was employed at this place and I told them I was leaving at the end of the week. On me last day this supervisor kicked off at me saying I hadn't gave her enough notice even though they could tell me not to come back anytime they wanted.

when I was recruiting in the Oil/Marine/Gas/Petrochemical Industry I was calling guys that were contract workers, they never went on a job for anything less than £800 a day, it was soul destroying speaking to them & negotiating wages.

My boss however was successfully placing these guys & frequently, the bonus he was getting was stupid.

im the WORLDS best forklift driver me like, reach and counter balance not that i use them much these days with all me computer work to do

When your speaking to people that can work 6 months of the year & earn what you do in just under 3 years id say it is pretty soul destroying....

I got my basic wage for 6 months before a bonus structure was even phased in regardless of revenue billed, no big bucks for me unfortunately.