Dave Thornhill's Blog: New quarterly industry insights to provide benchmarking tool for UK recruiters
The recruitment industry is back to buoyancy once more, with a strong performance in Q1 confirming that the sector has not only returned to pre-2008 parity, but moved ahead of it. In the next few months, we’re likely to see the industry continue along its upward trajectory.
Whilst this is to be welcomed, what recruiters really want to know is how their specific industry sectors will be affected and what impact it will have on their bottom line. To address this, Simplicity is pleased to announce the launch of Sector Insights.
Sector Insights will break down data on total billings on a quarterly basis across the top 8 recruiting sectors: Accountancy & Financial; Construction; Education; Healthcare; IT; Engineering; Industrial and Oil & Gas. This data will provide real-time insight into the quarterly margins being gained by UK recruiters within each sector they operate in.
Recruiters will see how the profit margins vary on a quarter-by-quarter basis, with data records collated over the last 12 months. In addition, each Sector Insights report will highlight the latest trends, developments or other regulatory factors taking place within each sector and the possible impact these may be having on recruiter billings operating within the space.
This invaluable information will provide recruiters with a firm understanding of what is happening within their key sectors, whilst enabling them to benchmark themselves against their respective sectors as a whole. Each Sector Insight will also enable recruiters to make informed decisions about whether they need to increase or decrease their margins to achieve the right levels.
With the recruitment industry entering what is arguably its most competitive phase for several years, and with the REC predicting an 8.3% and 9.6% growth in 2014/15 and 2015/16 respectively, having access to information like this can mean the difference between an agency winning or missing out on key contracts if their margins are too high (or too low).
Simplicity works with hundreds of recruitment businesses throughout the UK; committed to helping recruiters boost their overall business performance.
We believe that our new Sector Insights will serve as a tool that recruitment owners can use to retain control of where their businesses are currently, whilst arming them with the information they need to anticipate future demand and make decisions on how best they can increase their existing margins at no extra cost.
The first Sector Insights will be available to read and share free of charge on our website in May.