Plans put forward by the MP in charge of Brexit for an economy based on higher productivity jobs could be good news for agencies operating in highly skilled markets, recruiters say.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Theresa May appointed David Davis as secretary of state for exiting the European Union in her cabinet reshuffle. The move followed her appointment as PM after David Cameron stepped down in the wake of the UK’s decision to vote to leave the EU last month.

Earlier in the week before his appointment Davis indicated in a blog on a Conservative website how Britain’s economy may be reshaped in a post-Brexit world. In his blog Davis called for a shift in the UK economy towards a “more export-led” growth strategy, based on “higher productivity” employment.

Commenting on what this shift in the UK jobs market would mean for agencies, David Taylor, founder and director at global telco staffing specialist First Point Group, told Recruiter this emphasis on higher productivity and highly skilled jobs could be good news for his agency.

“If it’s highly skilled jobs being created in the UK … then that is a good thing. That will create more opportunities for us as recruiters – more opportunities for us as employers.”

However, Taylor added the UK would also need to identify ways of building the skills pipeline to fill the jobs this new environment would demand. “What’s got to catch up is the skill level of candidates in the UK to be able to serve those increased jobs – or they [the government] have to find a way of making a highly skilled migrant programme which gives us the technical ability to serve them.”

But Dean Kelly, founder of Gardean Human Capital and the Recruitment Directors Lunch Club, anticipates all agencies benefiting from this new emphasis on highly skilled roles.

He explained Davis’s plans would drive demand for specialists within the tech industry, engineers and white collar workers but would also increase wages for those working in lower-skilled roles due to a reduction in labour supply.

“If you are looking at the very low skilled positions where at the moment there is an oversupply – they can always get people for these positions because of immigration, if agencies work on a percentage margin, with wage inflation and wage growth, you will see profit growth within agencies as well.”

And Lisa Graham, director at technical recruiter E1EW, told Recruiter an increased supply of skilled roles, particularly in her field of telecommunications, would have the added bonus of creating additional candidate churn.

“It’s not hard to get hold of the candidates with qualifications; it’s hard to get hold of the candidates with experience. That’s the problem I find.

“The other side of candidates with good experience is sometimes they’re not the ones that move particularly – you’ve got to prize them out with more money.”

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