Why Can’t We Find the Right Talent for Our Business?

Here at Simpson Dean we are passionate about keeping our clients up-to-date with market relevant, engaging and informative content.

With this in mind, we would like to give you our opinion as to why we believe you may be finding it hard to source the right pool of talent for your business.

So, our story begins at the end of 2008 when Britain fell into recession for the first time since 1991….bad times!

This downturn in economic activity sent shockwaves around the world, with many countries falling into recession during 2008, including all G7 economies.

As we know, the widely accepted definition of a recession is ‘two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth’ and this happened during the third and fourth quarter of 2008.

Within months of the recession occurring, many businesses were hit hard and unemployment began to rise sharply, with the number of quality candidates looking for jobs rising exponentially. 

By way of example, when the global financial crisis hit, the employment rate was stated to be just over 5% (1.6 million people), but the market soon became flooded with candidates….many of whom had fantastic transferrable, as well as industry specific, skills.

Following the longest period of contracted economy since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955, Britain came out of recession at the end of 2009 (the last major economy to do so) and the unemployment rate stood at 8% with almost a million more people out of work at 2.5 million.  This peaked to its highest level for 17 years at almost 2.7 million by the end of 2011.

During the first quarter of 2012, Britain came close to experiencing its first double dip recession since the 1970’s, however, thanks to a flat economy rather than a contraction, a double dip was averted according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 

So, taking all of the above into account, it is easy to understand why some businesses still find themselves in a ‘recession mentality’, even though Britain slowly began to crawl its way out of recession during 2012…..and we mean, slowly!!

Within these difficult years, with more candidates seeking work, many clients became rigid in their candidate requirements for skills and experience, often dismissing quality candidates because they didn’t ‘exactly’ match the job description.

Since this time, however, unemployment has slowly declined (reportedly standing at 4.7% during the last quarter of 2016) and this sharp decline in candidates seeking new roles has proven to become quite a headache for many businesses recruiting staff, especially those unwilling to embrace the notion of transferrable skills.

Candidates have found themselves back in employment and ‘back in the driving seat’ when it comes to job hunting!  They are often choosing to stay where they are rather than look for a new role and these passive candidates can be the hardest candidates to engage.  This could be due to a number of reasons, perhaps from something as simple as ‘better the devil you know’ to nervousness at what the future may hold with the upcoming Brexit and potential implications once again to the British economy.

So, what can you do to ‘buck the trend’ of recession mentality and attract reliable, motivated and talented employees to your business?

Well, here at Simpson Dean we pride ourselves on the transparent and honest relationships we forge with our clients and candidates alike and we’re not the kind of agency to shy away from sometimes challenging conversations if we feel it is in your best interests.

Many of our clients have taken our advice and guidance on board and rid themselves of the rigid recession mind set; adapting to accept and embrace amazing candidates out there with transferrable skills! 

So, why not give us a call and find out how, by being an independent agency with an ethos of integrity and a genuine belief in good old fashioned service, we could help you find the next member of your team!

Here at Simpson Dean we know a thing or two about recruitment and we understand that everyone has an opinion.  We are always interested in hearing yours and any comments you may have on the content we share so, if you can relate to what we’ve said, or just want to engage with us, we’d love to hear from you!

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