Towards true consultancy. The future for recruiters?

With changes to employee tax legislation pending for April 2020 looking like they’ll bring significant changes to how corporates use professional contractors, Melius asks is the time right for recruitment business to finally become true management consultancies?

The abolition of the ‘hidden employee’ working as a contractor within a single business for long periods of time means that for many recruitment businesses a serious paradigm shift is imminent.

These organisations have access to deep talent pools and an in-depth understanding of the markets they work in. So why not evolve from being a provider of skills to a fully-fledged service provider delivering specialist projects on behalf of existing clients?

Melius’ Director, Dave Pye explains more: “Niche recruiters have exceptional industry knowledge, networks and access to talent. Evolving the value proposition to take responsibility for projects rather than just the introduction of skilled contractors is a sensible evolution. This approach also addresses client fears over brain drain and increased costs.”

For recruitment businesses, the opportunity exists to become a more valuable and intelligent partner for client businesses.

Such a move would neutralise the IR35 contractor conundrum facing corporate HR directors by moving to genuine project-based contracting driven by outputs and outcomes rather than the labour intermediary arrangements that currently exist.

Melius’ skillset supporting specialist businesses to modernise and scale means it is uniquely equipped to enable this transformation on behalf of recruitment industry businesses.

For an informal conversation about how to evolve your recruitment business, talk to Melius.