Product Type: Market Research Report
Published by: Key Note Publications Ltd
Published: February 2009
Product Code: R310-1660Description This Key Note Market Report examines the UK permanent recruitment market, including companies that engage in both general and executive permanent appointments. The report comes at a particularly difficult time for the recruitment industry as, in response to the economic downturn that began in the last quarter of 2007, many companies have made staff cutbacks and frozen their recruitment plans. In November 2008, the online jobsite Monster.co.uk reported that employers were forecasting a bleak outlook for the first quarter of 2009, claiming it would be the weakest January to March period in terms of staff hiring for 15 years (since the end of the last recession in the early 1990s).
According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the UK permanent recruitment market was worth £4.28bn in the year ending March 2008, and the number of permanent placements stood at nearly 727,000. The market was very strong in 2007, but began to falter after February 2008 as the outlook for the economy became increasingly uncertain. In the last quarter of 2008, the market contracted each month, and the drop in staffing needs had a negative impact on almost every sector of the economy, with financial services, construction, property, retailing and secretarial/administrative jobs being the worst-affected industries.
The major firms operating in the permanent recruitment market include: Adecco UK Ltd; Alexander Mann Group Ltd; Hudson Global Resources Ltd; Impellam Group PLC; Matchtech Group PLC; Michael Page International PLC; Modis International Ltd; Morson Group PLC; NES Group Ltd; Robert Walters PLC; Rullion Ltd; Spring Group PLC; and SThree PLC.
A large amount of corporate activity took place in 2008. For example, Adecco made a bid to buy Michael Page — this was not successful, but the company may come back and make a hostile bid in 2009, or it may well seek to buy another high-margin specialist recruiter. In addition, Carlisle Group and Corporate Services Group merged in 2008 to form Impellam Group PLC. More mergers and acquisitions are expected in 2009 as margins and profits in this industry are weakening, which will threaten hundreds of recruitment firms.
One positive message for the recruitment industry can be drawn from the results of a 2008 survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which revealed that a higher percentage of employers were using recruitment firms than was the case in its 2007 survey. The use of executive search firms had also increased, according to the survey.
Key Note forecasts that the value of the UK permanent recruitment market will fall by 7% in 2009, but will begin to recover in 2010 and 2011. Returning the economy to full prosperity will take time after the recession comes to an end, and meanwhile the recruitment industry is likely to undergo a period of restructuring.
Table of Contents - Executive Summary
- 1. Market Definition
- REPORT COVERAGE
- MARKET SECTORS
- MARKET TRENDS
- The Weakening Market
- Falling Salaries
- Some Shortages Still Remain
- Lowered Fee Rates
- Online Recruitment Continues to Expand
- ECONOMIC TRENDS
- Population
- Table 1: UK Resident Population Estimates by Sex (000), Mid Years 2003-2007
- Gross Domestic Product
- Table 2: UK Gross Domestic Product at Current and Annual Chain-Linked Prices (£m),
- 2003-2007
- Inflation
- Table 3: UK Rate of Inflation (%), 2003-2007
- Unemployment
- Table 4: Actual Number of Unemployed Persons in the UK (million), 2003-2007
- MARKET POSITION
- Table 5: The Permanent Staff Recruitment Market Within the Overall Recruitment Market by Turnover (£bn and %), Years Ending March 2000-2008
- 2. Market Size
- THE TOTAL MARKET
- By Value
- Table 6: The Total UK Permanent Staff Recruitment Market by Turnover (£bn), Years Ending March 2003-2008
- Figure 1: The Total UK Permanent Staff Recruitment Market by Turnover (£bn), Years Ending March 2003-2008
- By Volume
- Table 7: Number of Permanent Staff Placements, Years Ending March 2003-2008
- Figure 2: Number of Permanent Staff Placements, (000), Years Ending March 2003-2008
- BY MARKET SECTOR
- Computing/IT
- Construction
- Driving
- Education
- Financial
- Hotel/Catering
- Industrial/Blue Collar
- Nursing/Other Medical
- Professional/Managerial
- Recruitment to Recruitment
- Secretarial/Clerical
- Technical/Engineering
- 3. Industry Background
- RECENT HISTORY
- NUMBER OF COMPANIES
- Table 8: Number of UK VAT- and/or PAYE-Based Enterprises Engaged in Labour Recruitment and the Provision of Personnel by Turnover Sizeband (£000), 2004-2008
- EMPLOYMENT
- Table 9: Number of UK VAT- and/or PAYE-Based Enterprises Engaged in Labour Recruitment and the Provision of Personnel by Employment Sizeband, 2004-2008
- REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN THE MARKETPLACE
- HOW ROBUST IS THE MARKET?
- LEGISLATION
- KEY TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
- The Association of Executive Search Consultants
- Association of Professional Staffing Companies
- Recruitment and Employment Confederation
- 4. Competitor Analysis
- THE MARKETPLACE
- General Permanent Recruitment
- Executive Recruitment
- MARKET LEADERS
- Table 10: Selected Leading UK Recruitment Companies in the Permanent Recruitment Market by Total Turnover Including Temporary Recruitment Revenue and Non-Recruitment Revenue (£m), Latest Financial Results
- Impellam Group PLC
- Michael Page International PLC
- Adecco UK Ltd
- SThree PLC
- Spring Group PLC
- Morson Group PLC
- Alexander Mann Group Ltd
- Robert Walters PLC
- Matchtech Group PLC
- Rullion Ltd
- NES Group Ltd
- Hudson Global Resources Ltd
- Modis International Ltd
- MARKETING ACTIVITY
- Table 11: Main Media Advertising Expenditure of the UK Recruitment Industry (£000), Years Ending September 2007 and 2008
- EXHIBITIONS
- 5. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
- STRENGTHS
- WEAKNESSES
- OPPORTUNITIES
- THREATS
- 6. Buying Behaviour
- REASONS FOR USING RECRUITMENT AGENCIES
- Executive Search
- CONCLUSION
- 7. Current Issues
- MARKET CONDITIONS
- EXECUTIVE SEARCH
- CORPORATE ACTIVITY
- RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION TRENDS
- MANAGED SERVICE COMPANIES
- 8. The Global Market
- THE LARGEST MARKETS — THE US AND THE UK
- Table 12: The World’s Five Largest Recruitment Markets by Value ($bn), 2005-2008
- Table 13: The Top Five Executive Search Firms Worldwide by Revenue ($m), 2007
- 9. Forecasts
- INTRODUCTION
- The Economy
- Population
- Table 14: Forecast UK Resident Population by Sex (000), Mid-Years 2008-2012
- Gross Domestic Product
- Table 15: Forecast UK Growth in Gross Domestic Product in Real Terms (%), 2008-2012
- Inflation
- Table 16: Forecast UK Rate of Inflation (%), 2008-2012
- Unemployment
- Table 17: Forecast Actual Number of Unemployed Persons in the UK (million), 2008-2012
- FORECASTS 2009 TO 2013
- Table 18: The Forecast UK Permanent Recruitment Market by Value (£bn), Years Ending March 2009-2013
- MARKET GROWTH
- Figure 3: Growth in the Total UK Permanent Recruitment Market by Value (£bn), Years Ending March 2003-2013
- FUTURE TRENDS
- 10. Company Profiles
- ADECCO UK LTD
- ALEXANDER MANN GROUP LTD
- MATCHTECH GROUP PLC
- MICHAEL PAGE INTERNATIONAL PLC
- MORSON GROUP PLC
- NES GROUP LTD
- ROBERT WALTERS PLC
- RULLION LTD
- SPRING GROUP PLC
- STHREE PLC
- 11. Further Sources
- Associations
- Publications
- General Sources
- Government Sources
- Other Sources
- Key Note Sources
- Key Note Research
- The Key Note Range of Reports
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