Different approach to Eastern Europe

04-Mar-2009

I receive Recruiter’s email alerts and read them avidly as there are many items which are of interest to me. As a small company employing two recruitment staff plus anything between 15-30 permanent agency staff, I am not in the big league with larger agencies, however I continue to grow year-onyear and have maintained my customer base. A lot of it is pretty much recession-proof due to supply contracts of labour to the MoD and other public bodies.

The email alert on 25 February had two very pertinent topics which relate directly to my business model: the decline in Eastern European migration and where were the hospitality companies recruiting from if they show record profits.

My business has grown by taking a different approach to European recruitment. I take employers directly to Europe to recruit staff, which have been arranged by partner agencies and we interview the staff face to face.

I have done this about 15 times and it has always been a success, but I am still doing these types of trips for hospitality employers who actively want to recruit Eastern European workers.

The levels of Eastern European unemployment in the home countries is worse than the UK and many who have been here before and have returned are waiting for the job opportunities to be given to them. Perhaps this is why the stats show a downturn.

We are ready to make a dent in these stats and get inward migration upwards again.


George Chalmers, director, International Hotel Jobs, Alloa, Scotland