Research released by Public Health England this week reveals a 19% increase in the number of adults starting treatment for crack cocaine addiction in the last three years. 

Late last year, Recruiter revealed findings from The Cabin, a leading addiction facility in Thailand, which showed cocaine was the number two substance addiction treated among their UK clients.

And speaking to Recruiter this week, current Recruiter cover profile Paul Flynn said he thinks the recruitment sector has a “massive problem” with consultants taking the drug.

In May 2016, Flynn, a recruitment entrepreneur and co-founder of international recruiter Staffgroup, which was sold to Cordant Group in 2015, decided to launch Addcounsel, a business that draws on his own personal experience of substance and alcohol misuse, and his struggles with mental health.

Touching on the scale of the problem, Flynn told Recruiter: “Anyone who runs an urban-based recruitment company – notably a London, Manchester, Birmingham-type company with a cross-section of people between the age of 22 to 40 – could find cocaine will be getting used in their company in the week on a night out or in some kind of social setting.”

Flynn urged recruiters to look out for the indicators of people that may have a problem with cocaine dependency. These include frequently failing to turn up for work on Monday or Friday, a stressed negative attitude on Tuesday, heavy drinking and an erratic way of communicating with fellow workers – although he adds problem users’ sales numbers will not necessarily dip.

According to Flynn, another big problem is around agency bosses taking drugs with their colleagues.

“I’m not saying by any means every recruitment boss uses cocaine with their staff but if people are honest about it, when people are taken away to Las Vegas or Marbella or Ibiza or wherever they’re going, I think it’s about understanding where your boundaries are more than anything…

“You’ve got to understand that if you’ve got your own company, don’t do drugs with your staff. They’re not your pals. They’re your colleagues and you are their employer, so you do have a duty of care to them.

“It’s important to be mindful of the standards that you’re setting as an individual and the values that you have, but also being very clear with people that if they are experiencing any issues with alcohol or cocaine… that there is somebody they can talk to. If it isn’t the head of the company, then they need to identify someone within the business or externally to the business who they can go to and this might be through the private medical insurer. 

“A larger agency might have an EAP [Employee Assistance Program] in place. For smaller companies it’s more difficult. Sometimes it’s about trying to identify an addiction specialist locally who can be drawn on for assistance. These kinds of people can be accessed quite inexpensively.”

A director at a recruitment agency, who did not wish to give their name, told Recruiter the sector needs to recognise the pressure on young people to succeed and be good at what they do. 

“It comes from media and external sources, and from us within the industry of wanting them to succeed. That pressure can lead people down different paths – sometimes not the right paths. Therefore, we have a responsibility to support our staff at difficult times. These difficult times can manifest themselves in alcohol or drug taking. It’s quite prevalent for both in the sector.”

The recruitment director added he thought it was up to the sector to support consultants who develop a cocaine dependency. 

“I think we owe it to them to help and support them; maybe through advising them on action to take –just talking to them, giving them time off to find themselves, [along with] support, medical help and intervention.

“There are a lot of organisations out there that can support these individuals and it’s our responsibility as leaders within the industry to give people second chances and help them through difficult times.”

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