The new license, issued by the Ministry of Labour, has been enacted in order to remain in line with EU regulations on the supply of labour regulating the activities of recruitment agencies.

“We have worked very closely with the Ministry of Labour on securing the license over the last few months as this has been breaking new ground for both GRS and the Ministry of Labour,” said Steve Slocombe, co-founder of the GRS Group www.grsrecruitment.com 

“We have seen a significant growth in the temporary employment market in Cyprus since we began operations in 2005 and more companies are looking at how a flexible workforce can benefit their organisation. The temporary workers are an excellent solution to cover absences of permanent staff due to maternity leave, holidays, long term sickness or to deal with peaks in workload without increasing headcount on the balance sheet,” Slocombe explained. 


One of GRS’s first temporary worker projects was supplying around 200 employees to the airport construction project in office based, skilled and unskilled positions. 


Donna Stephenson, co-founder of the GRS Group added that through its Cyprus-based group company, Fairfax Yeaman Ltd., GRS also manages the accounting, immigration services and payroll for many local and international companies including some of the world’s most well known brands. 


“The issuing of the license marks a notable shift for both GRS and its clients, demonstrating even further expansion into a highly significant area,” Stephenson said. 
“I know many mothers that have taken career breaks and are eager to get back into employment but despite applying for jobs, are rarely invited for interviews,” she said. 


Leading by example, Stephenson said that GRS employs 20 people in its offices in Limassol, Nicosia and Malta. “We recently expanded our office with the hiring of four new employees in Limassol and the hiring of two interns,” but admits that despite efforts to provide employment to out of work, young and energetic graduates, there are a lot of individuals who offer unrivalled experience due to their maturity. 


On the other hand, many new companies, especially in the forex/binary sector are hiring young, inexperienced people to the role of office manager paying salaries of around €900-1200 gross per month. 


What has changed is due to EU regulations the Ministry of Labour has separated the permanent and temporary recruitment services and thus a separate license is now required for each service. 


“Our database is so vast and the extent of our attraction methods, i.e. website advertising, job board advertising, social media, etc. means that we can source temporary workers with ease. Rising unemployment contributes to this as we find many out of work individuals at all levels and across all disciplines,” Donna Stephenson explained. 


As regards training, she said that “a client requiring a temporary worker is usually looking for someone specific, with specific experience. This can range from a receptionist for holiday cover to a qualified accountant for a project. Temporary workers are usually given on-the-job training. Most will have the required experience that the company is seeking.” 


However, through the granting of the license and the regulation by the Ministry of Labour we are promoting the service more to our client base and educating them on the benefits of hiring a temporary worker. We have a number of international companies that have used our service for a few years.” 


“We have provided sizable temporary workforces to the airport construction, office based positions within international companies and various projects, including the Moni and Dhekelia for temporary power production facilities for almost two years following the Mari explosion. Supply of workers is also provided to wind farms, desalination plants, etc.”

“Both Steve Slocombe and I have vast experience from the UK temporary recruitment market and we are excited about the possible increase in demand for temporary workers as company structures begin to change and prospects of privatisation mean essentially we could be looking at the supply of temporary workers to newly privatised organisations in the future. The oil and gas sector is one which will most certainly have a demand for temporary workers,” Stephenson concluded.

Source: Financial Mirror