Cost of living is biggest talent issue for London business leaders
12 December 2013
The high cost of living is the biggest barrier to hiring for London business leaders - twice as troublesome as specialist skills shortages, according to a report from London First and Deloitte.
Thu, 12 Dec 2013The high cost of living is the biggest barrier to hiring for London business leaders – twice as troublesome as specialist skills shortages, according to a report from London First and Deloitte.
The business membership organisation and the professional services firm surveyed 150 chief executive officers and senior partners in a variety of firms in the capital.
There were seven barriers to hiring a workforce given, with respondents asked to choose the three most significant:
Cost of living was the runaway number one factor, with 71% of respondents putting it in their list of the top three recruitment barriers, against 48% selecting affordable housing and 42% listing specialist skill shortages.
Despite this challenging hiring landscape, 86% of firms said they were ‘absolutely committed’ to remaining in the capital, and just 1% said they were quite likely to leave by 2020.
Angus Knowles-Cutler, London senior partner at Deloitte, comments: ‘Global competition is increasing as the likes of Shanghai and Sao Paolo join traditional rivals like New York in seeking to appeal to today’s cosmopolitan workforce.
‘London can’t afford to allow the next generation to be priced out of living and working in this city, or be put off by perceptions of ageing infrastructure.’
Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, adds: “When it comes to EU membership, businesses couldn’t be clearer on what would be best for London and the wider economy.
“But there is a lot of scepticism about the status quo. The government should redouble its efforts to make the single market more effective, both within the EU and to bolster the EU’s competitiveness with the rest of the world.”
The business membership organisation and the professional services firm surveyed 150 chief executive officers and senior partners in a variety of firms in the capital.
There were seven barriers to hiring a workforce given, with respondents asked to choose the three most significant:
- 42% said that cost of living in London and the South-East was their biggest barrier to talent
- 20% put sufficient number of candidates with high-level specialist skills top
- 12% said quality of basic education was the number one problem
- 8% said tax environment was recruitment enemy number one while 7% thought lack of affordable housing was their biggest challenge with another 41% judging it a lesser challenge.
- 6% called the visa system for non-EU workers their biggest bugbear
- 2% thought quality of public transport and congestion was the top issue
Cost of living was the runaway number one factor, with 71% of respondents putting it in their list of the top three recruitment barriers, against 48% selecting affordable housing and 42% listing specialist skill shortages.
Despite this challenging hiring landscape, 86% of firms said they were ‘absolutely committed’ to remaining in the capital, and just 1% said they were quite likely to leave by 2020.
Angus Knowles-Cutler, London senior partner at Deloitte, comments: ‘Global competition is increasing as the likes of Shanghai and Sao Paolo join traditional rivals like New York in seeking to appeal to today’s cosmopolitan workforce.
‘London can’t afford to allow the next generation to be priced out of living and working in this city, or be put off by perceptions of ageing infrastructure.’
Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, adds: “When it comes to EU membership, businesses couldn’t be clearer on what would be best for London and the wider economy.
“But there is a lot of scepticism about the status quo. The government should redouble its efforts to make the single market more effective, both within the EU and to bolster the EU’s competitiveness with the rest of the world.”
