The study – Remuneration, Reward & Retention in the Professional Recruitment Sector – found that just over a third (34%) of staffing companies were planning to increase average salaries, despite higher salaries being ranked as the second most common reason for recruiters to switch roles.

Recruitment firms in the pharmaceutical & life sciences and procurement sectors were most likely to increase salaries (60%), in contrast to the 20-40% of firms from across all other sectors planning to do the same.

Hiring within recruitment businesses has been on the rise, the survey revealed, with 76% of respondents across all sectors having increased headcount by more than 10% in the last 12 months. More than half (54%) plan to increase by more than 10% in the next 12 months. The sectors with the biggest headcount growth plans were the legal, engineering and technology sectors, the research found.

Excluding ‘Other’, the report said, the three top reasons for staff losses were: being headhunted by another firm (29%), higher pay (22%) and promotion opportunities (19%). “To truly understand your staff churn,” the report advised, “businesses must undertake robust exit interviews, and analyse and act upon the results.”

It went on to add that staff “may be tempted to jump ship when approached. Therefore, retention policies are going to be key if firms are going to be able to achieve the headcount growth they are looking for”.

Among the recommendations made in the report:

• Consider reward/commission schemes for non-sales staff
• Review your benefits packages in consultation with employees to make sure that they are aligned with what your staff value
• Consider how you can restructure pay and commission structures to help offset the cost-of-living increases that all your staff will be experiencing.

The research was undertaken in summer 2022, APSCo said.

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