Both the general and executive recruitment market in the UK was worth 1.66bn in the year to June/July 2002.

According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), both the general and executive recruitment market in the UKthe market was worth 1.66bn in the year to June/July 2002, and the number of appointments made was 519,761.

(PRWEB) September 20, 2003 --Research and Markets have announced the addition of the "Recruitment Agencies (Permanent) Market Report 2003" report to their offering.

This report examines the permanent recruitment market in the UK. It covers both general and executive recruitment, including executive search. According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the market was worth 1.66bn in the year to June/July 2002, and the number of appointments made was 519,761.

Secretarial and clerical appointments account for the largest share of the market by volume, followed by technical/engineering appointments and professional/managerial appointments.

Most of the industry is UK owned. The major firms include: Adecco Holdings (UK) Ltd, Brook Street (UK) Ltd, Carlisle Group PLC, Extra Personnel Ltd, Human Resource Group PLC, Michael Page International PLC, Pertemps Recruitment Partnership Ltd, PSD Group PLC, Solutions in Staffing and Software Ltd, TMP Worldwide Ltd (which includes Melville Craig Ltd) and Whitehead Mann Ltd.

The market has slowed down since mid-2001 and some sectors, such as IT, are experiencing major difficulties. The weaker market has resulted in a large number of redundancies among recruitment companies, with most recruitment firms having reduced their staff numbers since the middle of 2001.

The decline in the overall recruitment market has even affected the online recruitment companies, which appear to have been hit harder than the bricks-and-mortar firms. Meanwhile, the executive search firms are reeling from the harsh market conditions that now confront them. One feature that stands out is that the share prices of search firms and general recruitment companies have dropped rapidly. This makes it more likely that some recruitment firms will be bought out, either by their competitors or by new market entrants. Industry insiders believe that such activity will be a precursor to a substantial market revival, although this might not occur until the end of 2003.

We forecast that, following the slump in 2002, the value of the market will rise again in 2003, with annual growth accelerating year-on-year until 2007. However, growth in 2003 could be lower than 4% if the German economy slides further, and if other external events, such as war in the Middle East, lead to a loss of business confidence. In late 2002, the consensus among economists was that a Middle East war would not impact adversely on western economies, but this relatively optimistic view is based on the assumption that a war would not last more than 4 or 5 months.

For a complete index of this report click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/35186

REPORT DATA SUMMARY:
Recruitment Agencies (Permanent) Market Report 2003
Category: Personnel
URL: www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/35186

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