How Will Brexit Affect the Recruitment Industry?

With the Brexit process seemingly locked in political deadlock, many people are struggling to maintain an interest in the topic – which is still unresolved almost three years on from the original referendum result. Whether it’s hard, soft or somewhere in-between, Brexit’s impact on our economy has been theorised by a number of economists and political commentators; but how exactly will it affect the recruitment industry?

With Brexit day now postponed until October 31^st 2019, what predictions can we make for the recruitment industry when we finally extricate ourselves from the EU?

Uncertainty

Matt Pavli

With so much uncertainty around, there’s been quite a few fluctuations at the London-based boutique recruitment agency Anderson Hoare since the vote to leave. Shortly after the Brexit vote, we saw a sharp drop in new roles and applicants for them, however in 2018 we saw a 30% increase in new hires and 2019 look to be continuing in a similar vein.

The initial shock and panic of the Brexit vote has subsided and it seems that companies are using the uncertainty to just continue as normal with expanding their workforce where needed.

Overseas workers

Whilst the domestic market seems to be largely stable and growing at pre-referendum rates, the pool of overseas talent is displaying a diminished interest in working in the UK.

As Brexit negotiations progress, some recruiters have reported a decreasing number of international candidates seeking jobs in the UK. A study of recruitment agencies on Linkedin highlighted these issues: 37% of recruiters surveyed are seeing a decrease from Italy, 35% from France, 35% from Germany, 32% from the Netherlands, 29% from Spain and 33% from other EU 27 countries in Q1 2018.

As Britain is highly likely to move away from the EU’s free movement of people principle, there will undoubtedly be a lesser pool of talent available from the EU. What is not known is the potentially negative long-term affect the vote to leave will have on the country’s open and accessible reputation across the world.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Membership of the EU has allowed for a large amount of European skilled and unskilled workers to seamlessly start working in the UK, which has generally been positive for British companies looking to hire and expand.

However, a key principle of the pro-Brexit campaign was to prioritise British workers instead of relying on the quick-fix of foreign labour. This could arguably lead to more companies providing training opportunities, increasing salaries and improving job security in order to make roles more appealing to the British workforce.

Therefore, in order to tackle this potential skills’ shortage, almost half of British companies said they would train and upskill employees’ to fill the gaps in their workforce.

Although Britain has benefitted hugely from its easy access to the pool of workers from the EU, the loss of these workers may increase internal training opportunities for British workers.

Workers’ rights

At the time of writing, the existing EU legislation on workers’ rights is due to be converted into British law in order for the legislation to remain the same after Britain leaves the EU. That said, these rights are likely to be altered over time – to what ultimate end depends on many factors including which party is in power.

It is too early to predict how leaving the EU will affect issues such as the average hours of the working week, maternity leave, sick pay and more, but in the short to mid-term it is unlikely any political party would want to rock the boat too much by repealing any of the more popular EU directives on workers’ rights.

Temporary workers

At Anderson Hoare we have noticed a significant upsurge in the number of temporary positions becoming available, and candidates willing to fill them.

It’s possible that with the ever-changing political landscape companies are choosing to adopt a more short-term approach through hiring temporary staff until the economic outlook becomes clearer.

A cause for optimism in the industry?

At Anderson Hoare we have our fingers on the pulse of the London office recruitment industry, and we have not seen any cause for concern post-Brexit. Whilst the nature of the Brexit deal remains uncertain, we have not seen any shortage of jobs being made available or willingness for companies to expand their workforce.

Whilst the shifting sands of Brexit means the outlook can radically change from one day to the next, the overall view of the recruitment industry remains largely positive. 71% of talent professionals feel ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ confident about their ability to recruit the right talent, showing the resilience of the industry. According to the same survey, several recruitment agencies (ourselves included) have seen an increase in business since Brexit due to the following: business growth (56 percent); more vacancies (45 percent); more suitable candidates on the market (32 percent); and sector specific needs (28 percent).

So for a rare sunny spot amongst the Brexit doom and gloom, look no further than the thriving recruitment industry…

This article was written by Matthew Pavli, Marketing Executive at London-based Boutique Recruitment Agency Anderson Hoare.