The signs of growth in the UK are reason enough for optimism. Many projects that were shelved for a while are beginning to be resurrected, and that means the demand for labour is rising. People are already seeing signs of more opportunity, and, although it has yet to reach all parts of the UK, inevitably the benefits will spread.
Economy on the move
The recent economic problems that every country has suffered have obviously had an impact on the labour market. Some sectors certainly shrank, and many recruitment agencies specialising in contract workers have had to reassess their business plans. There can be some disadvantages in specialisation.
There are regional variations, and certainly the South East and London, in particular, have more employment opportunities than elsewhere in the country – and, in turn, more opportunities for a recruitment business. There was an interesting study recently amongst workers in London suggesting that as many as two-thirds of the people in the labour market feel that they are likely to be working somewhere else in a year’s time. That was even though there is a much lower percentage expressing dissatisfaction with where they are working at present.
Value staff
The primary reason for the move was the expectation of receiving a better offer. This is something that could have an enormous impact on any business which cannot retain valuable staff members, but it is also something that provides an opportunity for recruitment agencies which have qualified workers on their books.
The challenge will be twofold: A recruitment agency must find the companies in need of staff members to plug their gaps, and they must also find more people happy to enrol. Certainly, this is a sign that optimism is returning strongly in the London area, and that is the good news.
If you want to move yourself, and that means moving away from salaried employment in order to start up your own agency, then this may be the time to do it. You obviously need to give it plenty of thought, make sure your business plan is realistic and guarantee that your finances are adequate enough to begin without needing to take a salary from day one. The biggest issue in recruitment is the potential cash flow problem of paying weekly workers while waiting for invoice payments from clients.
Use of time
If you don’t mind hard work, then go for it, but think about the best way to use your time. Your time must be devoted to the things that can develop the business, and not the administrative procedures that every company faces. These can be done by someone else. While you may not have thought of it before, there are recruitment specialists that can offer you administrative and financial support so that you can concentrate on your strengths.
If you look on http://www.simplicityinbusiness.co.uk/recruitment-start-up/thinking-of-starting-up/, you will be able to read through the services available to you in order to make a success of your business. It may leave you questioning some of the basic things you have always taken for granted in recruitment. You will certainly be left with food for thought, but it’s always better to be right than to base your strategy on falsehoods.
Image attributed to Freedigitalphotos.net Ambro
