A poll of more than 1,000 HR professionals by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Hays found that 56% intended to reduce their reliance on third party recruiters in 2017. This was up from 45% who said the same thing last year.

Three in four respondents said they expected to focus on developing more talent in-house this year, up from 48% in 2016. Six in 10 expressed a desire to work on retention rather than recruitment in 2017, up from 37% last year.

While 26% said they expected their organisation’s recruitment budget to rise this year, 21% thought it would fall, with the remainder anticipating no change.

Nearly three-quarters of HR professionals expect the competition for well-qualified talent to increase as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, with more than six in 10 predicting further difficulty recruiting senior and skilled employees over the next three years.

CIPD associate research adviser Claire McCartney said: “Today’s research highlights a mounting war for talent and the subsequent need for organisations to sharpen their focus on strategic recruitment and effective retention to attract and maintain the skills they need in an increasingly competitive labour market.

“Brexit and its impact on the labour market should act as a stimulus for organisations to focus their attention on building a stronger, more productive workforce, by staying alert to potential changes in their skill needs and being agile in their response.”

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