Recruitment slowdown echoed locally

ONE of the region’s leading recruiters says he isn’t surprised a survey by Manpower has revealed four out of five firms have no plans to hire new staff in the next three months.

Andrew Springhall, chief executive of Birmingham and Nottingham-based Blusource, said economic uncertainty is making bosses cautious. 

“People have the desire to recruit but the desire to do it now isn’t there. People want to wait for a few months before doing anything,” he said.

The Manpower survey of 2,100 employers – released ahead of the announcement today of the latest unemployment figures – found hiring expectations are at their lowest for three years and that financial business services are amongst the sectors with a freeze on recruitment.

But Springhall suggests that locally the white collar recruitment picture is mixed.

“At the top end of the local legal and accountancy sector there is some recruitment but it is people right at the top,” he said. “The top firms are not recruiting juniors or in the mid-tier.

“But the small accountancy and legal firms are recruiting partly as a result of clients becoming more cost conscious and increasingly looking to the small firms.”
Springhall admits the market for recruitment amongst local manufacturers is slow.

“There were high hopes at the start of the year and people were recruiting but that has tailed off. Firms are recruiting where there is a need, for example to replace someone who has left, but they are not recruiting strategically,” he said.