ACAS has revealed that two in five (41%) British employers expect the numbers of staff at their organisation to increase over the next year. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service commissioned YouGov to ask businesses in Britain about whether they expect staff numbers to increase, decrease or stay the same in the next 12 months compared to the previous 12 months. The poll found that:

• Two in five (41%) expect an increase
• 7% expect a decrease
• Nearly half (47%) expect staff numbers to stay the same
• 4% do not know

ACAS Chief Executive, Susan Clews, said:

"Many businesses experienced a challenging time due to the impact of COVID-19 and the employees at those organisations may have felt that they faced an uncertain future. As we come out of the pandemic restrictions, it is very encouraging to see a turnaround with two in five employers expecting an increase in staff in the year ahead and nearly half expecting no change. Businesses that are looking to employ new staff should check out ACAS's good practice advice and training on how best to recruit people, follow employment law and avoid discrimination."

ACAS has also published advice for employers on hiring new staff, which includes information on:

• How to ensure that you do not discriminate against anyone and keep within the law.
• The rules around immigration following Brexit, if you want to recruit from outside the UK.
• Best practice on advertising for a new job, including ACAS templates for job descriptions and application forms.
• Legal considerations if you try to use a job applicant's social media profile as part of a selection process.
• How best to interview people for a job and offer the role.

ACAS gives advice for employers on what to include and not include in potential job adverts. Examples that could be discriminating unfairly against protected characteristics (of which there are nine) include:

• Terms like 'recent graduate' or 'highly experienced' – these can discriminate against age (you must be able to prove you have a good reason for any job requirement in your advert).
• Terms like 'barmaid' or 'handyman' – these can discriminate against someone's sex.
• Language requirements – 'German sales rep' could discriminate against race, so 'German-speaking sales rep' would be more appropriate.
• Clothing requirements, for example wearing a hairnet in a kitchen could discriminate against someone who for religious reasons covers their head in other ways.

Read ACAS's advice on recruitment and job applications.​​​​​