Software provider Voyager Software says that 25% of its customers in this calendar year have been start-ups, indicating a trend in recruitment professionals setting up low-cost recruitment practices on their own.

Paul Thompson, sales director at Voyager, says: “Recruiter redundancies are an everyday news item - the casualties of a tightening market as many companies have limited cost-cutting options, such as rent, admin staff or advertising.”

“The question for many is do you cut loose the five-year serving administrator? Or is it easier to lose the recruiter with only one year’s experience? Many employers are losing the wrong staff because they are not able to track performance or pipeline effectively.”