Majority of recruitment firms reviewing office space needs due to Covid-19

Latest research has revealed that because of the current pandemic, as many as 79% of recruitment firms are reviewing their need for office space.

According to the survey carried out by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), of those assessing their current office situation, 31% said they will definitely downsize and 48% will not go ahead with previous office expansion plans.

Over half of the 112 respondents had offices in central London, and so with almost 40,000 recruitment firms in the UK, the APSCo believe that this could make worrying reading for commercial landlords.

Interestingly, comments from the respondents shows that downsizing is not necessarily a negative reaction to the current situation.

For example, one respondent – a life sciences recruitment firm with over 50 staff and offices in central London and the south east – said:

“We will not be returning as we had previously. In fact, our productivity has spiked with remote working so we will be operating offices in the future with a rota of teams in attendance that will support social distancing. However, with a more productive remote work practice, we will look for smaller offices and rotas in the future.”

Over half of respondents (53%) expected to be back in the office within three months, over a third (37%) within six months and 10% next year. However, with recent announcements from companies such as Shopify, Facebook and Twitter saying that staff can work from home indefinitely, it’s clear that those looking to return are contemplating a different way of working in the future.

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo, commented, “The biggest two cost bases to recruitment firms are people and premises and so it is not surprising that companies are looking to reduce those costs against a backdrop of a significant fall in business and I hope that once we have some clarity on the Job Retention scheme post June, the percentage looking at redundancies will fall. However, what this research clearly shows us is that the age of the majority of staff being in the office five days a week is probably well and truly behind us.”

To find out more about contracting please contact Jaime on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com.