Brexit is changing the way SMEs recruit, report finds

The recent report revealed that half of SMEs have changed their recruitment strategies due to Brexit

A recent report from Albion Capital has revealed that half of SMEs have changed their recruitment strategies due to Brexit.

The findings from the Albion Growth Report 2017 revealed that for small businesses which have changed strategy due to Brexit, 15 percent have decreased recruitment resources, 10 percent have begun recruiting in different ways and nine percent have made redundancies. 

One of the biggest barriers to growth, according to the survey of over 1,000 SMEs, is the difficulty in finding skilled staff behind broader political uncertainty and cash flow. In contrast, SMEs viewed difficulty in finding unskilled staff as the least significant barrier to growth.

The report found that nearly two-thirds of SMEs believe that their business lacks expertise, however despite the critical skills deficit only a third of SME’s are currently hiring new employees.

The research also revealed that SMEs in London (73 percent), the Midlands (64 percent) and Scotland (63 percent) were most likely to feel they lack expertise, with media and marketing the skill most businesses felt they lacked.

Patrick Reeve, managing partner of Albion Capital, told Simply Business: ‘It is now obvious that SMEs are becoming more strategic in their approaches to recruitment in response to challenges from the external environment, including Brexit. 

‘As the difficulty of finding skilled workers increases, in particular for sales, marketing and IT roles, SMEs are realising they must adapt. While there is evidence that recruitment budgets are shrinking, employers have also refocused their efforts on retaining existing talent, or being nimble and innovative to pursue new ways of finding staff.’

Recruiters love this COMPLETE set of Accredited Recruitment & HR Training – View Training Brochure

Comment on this story

The British Institute of Recruiters is the Professional Body operating The Recruitment Certification Scheme

Send this to a friend