Samantha Woodland, senior HR business partner, Kelly Services
“Finding recruiters with industry knowledge is difficult. Our technology practice always requires qualified scientists but many other career options are available to them. Imagine dropping 100 peas into a 10 litre barrel with 500 holes in it – this is the breadth of options open to skilled professionals.”

Sarah Toal, head of internal recruitment, Adecco UK & Ireland
“As with the wider industry, improvement in the economy means that competition for the best candidates is heating up again. As the overall jobs market has picked up, agencies are trying to increase their headcounts to deal with building workload. Given the tough conditions last year, many agencies lost candidates who either found employment elsewhere or chose to leave the industry altogether.”

Nick Bancroft, joint managing director, McCall
“We’ve had a very good start to the year. The first quarter has been our best quarter for five years. However, I think by mid-year, the market will slow down dramatically. I think there will be a double dip. Recruiters are by their nature very optimistic individuals but I think the market will fall dramatically in the second half of the year.”