Overall the Emergency Budget did not seem to be detrimental as it could potentially have been and there are several positive signs of encouraging business growth, which in turn support the attitudes towards recruitment. But with any budget of this importance there are some swings and roundabouts.

Key aspects of the budget for recruitment (in our opinion) are :-

Public sector – cuts in public spending will undoubtedly impinge upon future recruitment decisions as departments have to say goodbye to some staff and shuffle staff/resources internally as much as possible. Nevertheless we may see a trend towards flexible and skill centric resourcing and that could benefit the interim contractors out there.

National Insurance changes – the much publicised increase in employers NI is definitely to happen but will be partially offset by a higher employers NI threshold. For employees with salaries up to £35k there will be some financial benefits whilst the highest paid workers (£45k+) and their employers who will experience an increase in costs.

Corporation Tax – the reduction in corporation tax and also small business tax will certainly help promote business growth – probably will be most keenly welcomed in the SME arena.

20% VAT – won’t unduly affect most sectors but there may be some negative impact upon the charity and financial sectors which can’t fully reclaim their VAT on employment costs.