Brexit and the recruitment industry

Brexit happened on the 31st January, but what will this mean for us recruiters, should we be scared, if so, how scared?! 
Or should we share in the optimism that Brexit will bring exciting new opportunities, that we have previously been unable to embrace whilst part of
the EU?

How well us recruiters do depends on how well our clients (businesses) are doing and on the access we have to candidates.

How will businesses that operate in the UK fair? As a very sweeping generalisation from my experience speaking to businesses, many leaders of SME’s welcome Brexit particularly those struggling with EU regulation, again a sweeping generalisation but the majority of big business liked the EU and were able to cope with the EU’s demands, of course they were not complaining that smaller competitors were being squeezed out of the marketplace!

Some sectors will be impacted more than others, especially those operating in ‘Just in time manufacturing’, those importing and exporting to the EU and those relying on subsidies from the EU. The support our government provides these businesses under ‘a deal’ or ‘no deal’ scenario may be an influential factor on how these sectors fair in the short term. Let’s all hope the UK Government shows competence and uses the money we will no longer be sending to the EU wisely in order to help our businesses with any changes, for example ensuring businesses who currently receive subsidies from the EU continue to receive money from the UK Government if needed.

What about access to applicants with the changes on immigration policy? Most of us recruiters will have experienced receiving a fantastic CV from an applicant outside of the EU and the frustration of being unable to work with them without visa sponsorship which has been so difficult to secure. 

Hopefully a fairer points-based immigration policy will help us recruit the best talent for our businesses from around the world no longer discriminating against applicants outside of the EU. With the UK currently enjoying the lowest unemployment figures in recent history, we have faced a candidate skills shortage for quite some time.  Let’s hope the new immigration system will help the shortage, of course we will still need low skilled workers in volume under the new immigration policy. We need to focus on making our country an attractive place for these migrants and for business to continue investing.

With Boris’s landslide election win, Brexit is now certain, however the horizon is still shrouded in uncertainty. We have a year within a transition period before knowing what a deal will look like or if we will leave with no deal.

One of my biggest hopes with Brexit is that being out of the EU we will be able to trade with some poor countries who are desperate to sell to us, and this may help these countries reduce poverty.

Should the worse happen and our economy take a severe hit, recruitment businesses will need to adapt, it may be a focus on temporary recruitment will take priority, it will be the survival of the fittest and the good recruitment businesses will increase their share and remain profitable with the weak retracting.  It would be advised to ensure your client base is diverse and not reliant on one sector.

I appreciate Brexit is an extremely complex process with many factors at play here. However, personally, I am not one that buys in to the view Brexit equates with a recession, there may be some bumps in the road initially, however I feel in the long term our economy will thrive, even if we
are faced with a no deal.  UK businesses have coped so well with three years of Brexit uncertainty, and with our economy having outperformed Germany and France in recent years, surely this must be a good sign of the strength of our businesses. Local recruitment agencies certainly
seem confident in our economy as nearly everyone I have spoken to since starting my business want to recruit new consultants, many having exciting
growth plans in place. I would love to hear your views…

Do you work in recruitment?  It maybe you are not actively looking for a
new job, however, would be open to hearing details of opportunities for a particular
role or package. We would welcome you making contact to Victoria on 07515 944 390
in complete confidence.

Who do you know in recruitment?  We offer a fantastic referral scheme of £250
should we place your referral. All approaches treated in the strictest of
confidence.

How
will Brexit impact the recruitment industry?