Turnover in the UK’s recruitment industry has leapt by more than 7% to a new record high of more than £26bn, an annual industry report has revealed.
The sharp increase in industry turnover was one of the principal findings of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) Annual Industry Turnover and Key Volumes Survey 2006-07.
In the period covered in the report – April 2006 to March 2007 – the overall turnover from both permanent and temporary/contract recruitment rocketed to an all-time high of £26.673bn, compared to £24.838bn the previous year.
The 7.4% growth represents the highest increase since the report was first compiled in 2001-02.
REC director of research Roger Tweedy said: “The results show another strong year of growth for the recruitment industry. The findings undoubtedly reflect some of the big issues of the last year – a growing economy, increased levels of labour immigration, and the intensifying issue of talent attraction and retention.”
The survey estimated that the recruitment industry places 1,377,000 temporary and contract workers every week.
There has also been a jump in the number of staff employed in the sector.
The survey reported a 3.6% increase to 101,286 staff. Included in this figure was the number of consultants who work solely on permanent business, which have increased at the expense of those consultants in temporary and contract work.
Large-scale projects such as CrossRail and the 2012 Olympic Games are expected to fuel the recruitment industry’s future growth, the report said.
