Restructuring in the recruitment and interim sector: what does the future hold?
Restructuring in the recruitment and interim sector
How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the sector?
What is the current state of play in the UK recruitment sector?
Permanent recruitment was the hardest hit area within the employment market during 2020 as many companies put a freeze on hiring. The freeze has affected the postgraduate market in particular, with 18–25-year-olds finding it difficult to access roles that reflect their qualifications. However, this does mean that when things do pick up, there is going to be a large and well-qualified labour supply for recruiters to work with. In contrast, the temporary market has held up well, as supermarkets, food producers, cleaning contractors, delivery companies/couriers and healthcare operators amongst others, have all needed temporary support in a big way. The interim market faced significant difficulty throughout 2020. At the onset of the pandemic, around 50 per cent of the interims that were already in roles lost their jobs. Those that weren’t currently on a placement found there was a very limited market for interim managers until the first lockdown measures eased during the summer months. The roles that started to become available were predominantly addressing emergencies within businesses. We expect the situation to begin to materially improve towards the second half of 2021. Employers are now talking about recruiting again at scale although decision making is taking longer than normal.
The switch towards new, more flexible ways of working is perhaps the most fundamental change to the world of work in decades. COVID-19 has caused many people to consider their life choices, including where they want to live, how they want to work and the type of work they want to do. This has compelled employers to acknowledge that remote working can be successfully deployed across large proportions of the workforce. As geographic boundaries become less significant, correspondingly there will be greater emphasis on talent mobility and the distribution of skills throughout the UK. Post COVID-19, we should expect to see the emergence of a new norm that will include greater utilisation of recruitment technology, including more of the interview process moving online, plus the introduction of digitisation of the entire end-to-end recruitment process. The move to remote working means recruitment firms will have to evolve and change how they operate too. Increasingly, the phrase “work is what we do; not a place we go” will be of relevance in the decade ahead. The interviewing and prospecting process has moved online and that is likely to continue, alongside virtual onboarding when people are hired. As such, there will need to be greater investment in the appropriate technology. Employment contracts and benefits will also need reviewing to reflect the fact that employees want more flexibility in their working arrangements. Similarly, employers will also expect greater flexibility. A lot of employees will also be looking to reskill because the changes forced by the pandemic have made their skills less relevant. This will undoubtedly impact sectors like leisure, retail and hospitality for a long time as people look to move into other sectors where they see themselves having better prospects and greater job security.
Increasingly, the phrase “work is what we do; not a place we go” will be of relevance in the decade ahead. Simon Longfield Restructuring Advisory
The switch towards new, more flexible ways of working is perhaps the most fundamental change to the world of work in decades. Susan Moor FRP Transition
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