The triggering of Article 50 has caused uncertainty in many industries about what lies ahead, including recruitment. There are many potential impacts of Brexit on recruitment and while there are likely to be challenges ahead, there may even be some positive consequences.

According to a poll carried out by City and Guilds among 500 senior decision makers working for large UK companies, around 26% were optimistic that Brexit will not have any impact on their ability to recruit new talent. 18% of those surveyed said that they relied on EU staff for more than half of their workforce at present and 87% admitted having trouble filling vacant positions currently – but despite this, 42% said that they thought Brexit may even have a positive effect on recruitment.

City and Guilds managing director Kirstie Donnelly said:

“Of course, we still don’t know what is going to happen, but it’s encouraging to see optimism among employers,”

“I hope this means that more and more employers are planning to harness ‘home-grown skills’ thanks to the Government’s drive to increase the number apprenticeships in the UK.”

While it may now have altered somewhat, the attitude among employers was optimistic at the start of the year too. The annual survey carried out by the CBI lobby group in January found that UK companies were planning to hire staff in 2017 at a similar pace to the previous year. Over 350 companies were surveyed, and only 13% said they thought their workforce would be smaller this year, while 41% thought they would actually have more staff.

Overcoming a shrinking talent pool

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has recently expressed concern that UK employers will face a “shrinking talent pool”. This is very much a challenge that employers will need to be aware of and take steps to overcome in the next few years as the UK negotiates its exit from Europe.

Employers may want to focus on growing their own talent, investing in internal development and pushing harder to recruit talented graduates. If you’re struggling to attract candidates of the right quality, you may also want to take a closer look at what you’re offering them. Is it unique, interesting and valuable enough to make a candidate choose you over one of your competitors, especially if the offered salaries are very similar?

With two years or perhaps longer to continue recruiting EU staff, now may also be a good time to approach a specialist recruiter and put the might of their extensive resources behind your recruitment drive.

Dedicated IT recruitment specialists make it their business to stay abreast of every new development in the IT and digital recruitment market as the country moves closer to leaving Europe. They also have access to a wider network of talent pools than your recruitment team may be able to tap into, so are able to connect you with the best candidates before anyone else snaps them up.