More than half of the UK recruitment companies currently working roles as the Covid-19 business slowdown continues are experiencing longer times than usual from briefing to appointment, according to the Recruitment Sector Barometer May 2020.

The Barometer, run by MyNonExec in association with Recruiter, reports that a record net one in five recruitment companies are also noting an increase in debtor days, potentially further exacerbating cashflow issues.

Other findings in the Barometer:  

• A small majority of respondents to the Barometer expect their temporary and contractor desks to outperform Q2 2019 in Q2 2020.  
• Recruiters are maintaining their fee rates in spite of the current crisis.  
• The number of recruitment companies citing a shortage of candidates as one of their top three challenges has dropped to just one in four from an average of 69%.  
• More than four out of five companies that are more than 12 months old now expect net profit for the next 12 months to be less than for the previous 12 months.

“As the impact of the pandemic is really felt in Q3 and potentially Q4 2020, this could place a real strain on recruitment companies’ liquidity,” said MyNonExec’s Alex Arnot, “especially of those that invested to accelerate their growth in anticipation of Brexit uncertainty easing.”

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