This is a message of hope. The sun will shine on recruitment again!

The worst recession I’ve ever been through in recruitment was in the early 90s. My three-year-old start-up business, Recruitment Solutions, had been doing brilliantly. Within three years annual revenues were over $13M in 1990.

But 12 months later that dropped to $8M. We had to reduce staff numbers from 75 to 30, close two offices, and grind it out for two years to survive.

Every person in the company took a 10% salary drop. Admin staff were eradicated, with consultants shouldering the load.

We stopped advertising totally because great candidates were queuing up in the foyer, without appointments, desperate to be seen. This not an exaggeration.

Our Sydney temp desk, which had averaged 30 job orders a week, plumbed new depths. In one memorable week, we took one order. And it came in at 4 pm on a Friday, and it was for a one-day Credit Control clerk.

Rented pot-plants were wheeled out the door.

60% of recruitment companies in New Zealand and Australia went into liquidation over that period.

I was terrified. Mortgaged to the hilt, I had borrowed every single dollar to start the business. I had encouraged ten colleagues to leave great jobs, follow me, and start Recruitment Solutions.

And Recruitment Solutions would have been amongst that 60% who failed too, if it had not been for four key facts.

• We had a strong temporary business, which kept us afloat,
• We had no debt, so we were not crippled with repayments when revenue dropped
• We had some great recruiters who saw the thing through. Recruiters with character. Recruiters who were not just boom-time show-offs. Recruiters with relationships. Recruiters who could win business in a declining market.
• And we cut our expenses fast and very deep, early.

Oh, it was a full-on horror story. But it had a happy ending.

When the market recovered, we found, that many of our competitors had disappeared! I take no joy in the misfortunes of others, but the fact was the field was much clearer.

We found our clients valued that we had persisted and felt bound to us as ‘fellow – survivors’. We found the consultants who survived had been burnished by the fire of true battle and were tougher, more loyal and far more skilled. Some of those recruiters who worked through those tumultuous times, work with me even today.

Opportunities were everywhere. Our energy was high. Our costs were low.

Subsequently, Recruitment Solutions boomed. In two years, our revenues were up to 17 million. By 1997 sales were 40 million and the business was so profitable we could list it on the ASX at a value of over $60 million at its peak

The full revenue story is below and it offers great hope to all of us because right now we are in the pits. (The full story of that recession and how we rode the recovery can be found in The Savage Truth)

                                                   Recruitment Solutions Sales $M: 1989 – 1999

The message is this.

Recessions end. There will be a recovery. We can emerge like the phoenix from the flames.

And the sun will shine again.

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