The Irish Recruitment Industry is feeling the effects of the industries it serves, and many specialist recruitment companies that have been reliant on customers within one of the industries that have been affected by the downturn are also inheriting a weaker revenue stream. This type of company is certain to fail unless they can realign their modus operandi, or have sufficient cash reserves to weather the storm. The Recruitment industry is the same as any other, in that the coming months are bound to experience further change.
There has been much speculation in recent times as to what type of acquisitions lay in store and whether or not we are on the brink of seeing another “Marlborough” situation where one of the larger recruitment companies goes under. The fact that CPL, (Ireland’s biggest in terms of recruitment) issued a profit warning earlier this year lent credence to this in a way. My personal belief is that some of the bigger recruitment companies will seek to acquire a number of “niche” recruiters or smaller firms that are doing well within industries that are experiencing growth in addition to downsizing their focus on Multinationals and running a mile from capital-intensive Managed Services operations where more of the bigger companies seek to minimise the risk of employing salaried people to run operations that are not strategically important.
The more dynamic recruitment companies are looking further afield and are aligning themselves with customers that are within more favourable periods of growth in industries such as renewable energy and information technology. Optimism, confidence and opportunism will dictate as to who will be most successful in the coming year.
