UK recruitment industry now worth £18.5bn a year, survey finds
The UK recruitment industry is now worth £18.5 billion a year in the UK alone despite the difficulties agencies face in successfully finding and placing skilled IT staff.
Outsourcing, globalisation and an increase in the number of specialised markets are the main factors responsible for the high growth as a recent survey conducted by Heywood Associates has shown.
The survey is based on information gathered from 2,800 recruitment consultancies and shows that despite the previous year's dotcom fever causing significant distortion in the IT market, the industry as a whole has responded positively.
Many agencies specialising in IT have established separate practices for telecoms (the sector hardest hit by the skills shortage), e-commerce and new media. New, hybrid disciplines combining previously separate practices with one another, such as 'IT into banking' are also becoming more common.
The survey shows that a Partner in Advanced Technology (Executive Search) currently earns a basic salary of between £240,000 - £260,000 with an on-target earning of between £1.1 million - £1.3 million. Similarly, a Partner in the Financial Services is listed as being on the same basic amount, with an OTE between £1.4 million - £1.6 million. A hybrid between the two can only be speculated upon with estimates, but the figures are higher still.
Globalisation, assisted by the willingness of highly sought after skilled IT contractors looking to leave the UK, has greatly increased demand for international market recruitment. Europe, the US, the Far East and Australasia are currently the main areas in this sector with the rate of expansion expected to continue ever more rapidly over the next year.
The survey shows that basic salaries for Principals in the Executive Search sector are now sustained at a previously unheard of £250,000 pa with the first £1 million plus packages in the field on offer.
Commissions and bonuses averaged out between the different sectors between 15% and 60% (almost exclusive to niche technical markets) of personal billings, with the last year seeing an increase in the minimum percentage pay out rising from 10% to 15%.
According to the survey results, the recruitment market is now home to 'older recruitment consultants' with the upper age rising from 30 years to 34 years. The older workforce are, according to the report, "professionals looking for more security, higher basic salaries and long term careers."
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Richard Powell