Too many good people leave the industry

Property industry recruitment veteran Alan Mead says his firm, AMR, is struggling to find enough candidates for the roles available. It appears that 2,000 people have got out of the industry for good over the last year.

But Mead acknowledged that few people in estate agency would realise that is a problem with recruitment: “I have little doubt that employers will be amazed to hear about such an issue,” he said. “Quite simply, the industry has lost its shine.”

He went on: “As a result of the cutbacks made by the industry over the last autumn and winter, a significant number of people left the sector, and although it will be said by some employers that some of those will not be a loss to the industry, many good people were also affected.

“In some cases employers simply cut and run. Having made their money over the previous ten years or so, they chose to close their businesses and move on, with their staff – the good, bad and average – suffering redundancy.

“Today, the great majority of those people have found work with new employers and very, very, many have left the industry completely and today are fearful and reluctant to return.”

He said it had been estimated that 2,500 agents had lost their jobs every month over the last year. However, AMR had been registering an average of only 573 candidates each month for agency positions, of whom half came from outside the industry. 

“So where have the other 2,200 or so gone? Well, your guess is as good as mine. But if those numbers are correct, then they’ve been getting out of the industry and with no intention of even trying to stay in it.

“In March, AMR recorded its lowest number of candidates registering over the last 12 months, and in proportion to the number of offices we have open currently, ever.”

But Mead insists that jobs in the industry do exist: “In March, as with January and February, the number of vacancies we were instructed with increased, month on month. Clients are really beginning to need our assistance, usually as a reflection of an upturn in their own business.”

He said so many good people had left the industry that many of the candidates on offer were simply not of the calibre being sought, or they were in the wrong part of the country.

But he admitted that salaries were lower this year than last, and some candidates – unable to accept this reality – were turning down job offers.

He said: “Good people are genuinely scarce.” He added that his firm is now trawling other industries for suitable candidates and also engaging in headhunting from non-client companies within estate agency.