WHAT A RECRUITER IS NOT SUPPOSED TO TELL YOU…

If you are running your business, managing a company or an HR department – I feel for you. The current rate of inflation, rising energy prices and mortgage rates increase the living expenses of your employees to a level we haven’t seen for a while. And who do they come to complain to? Yes – You!

Since September, salaries have kept climbing, not slowly and steadily but sharply and rapidly. And still not fast enough to meet the new price increases. People are struggling to sustain the same level of comfortable (or not so comfortable in many cases) existence, as their real incomes (what you can buy for your money) don’t reach the necessary level to maintain their lifestyle.

Over 85% of our candidates since September came to us in search of a new job for one reason – to get better pay to support their family with the same or similar lifestyle as they had before. And the majority of them are asking for a higher market-rate salary. And guess what? With the staff shortages in the UK, these candidates eventually get what they ask for. Because businesses have no other choice – pay up, or struggle to find suitable candidates forever…

This is how so many candidates leave their jobs now. They are after money, understandably. And here you are – without your workers, and also cornered to offer more money than you bargained for in order to find a suitable replacement.

I feel for you, business owners and managers. I am in the same shoes. Just when we breathed out ‘Thank God, we survived the pandemic’, the war, the rising energy costs, taxes and salary levels across all jobs are threatening the very existence of so many already fragile businesses.

So, in the spirit of our common struggle, I will tell you something any self-respectful recruiter is not supposed to think, let alone say out loud–

Keep your talent close!

I know, I know. It is like shooting in my own foot. Merry Christmas! But seriously, if you can, do everything possible to keep your talent intact. The chances are that anyone new you hire will cost you more. Or you may need to hire someone more junior to keep the costs at bay (which is also an option, as long as you can teach them a little – worth the saving, and you will give an opportunity for someone to step up the career ladder – another useful tip on the house ??).

And when you absolutely need to replace or hire someone, don’t forget yours truly, painfully (mostly for myself) frank recruiter??