Office rethink saves recruiter $150k
2 mins
Recruiters net six-figure savings in workplace rethink
Recruitment companies are reaping six-figure savings and significant productivity gains as their leaders undergo a workplace rethink for a post-COVID world.
Since downsizing its Sydney office and moving into a Justco shared office space, commercial, health and industrial recruitment specialist Symmetry HR has netted around $150k savings in rent alone.
The move also provides the business “a lot more flexibility to ramp up or to ramp down”, according to chief sales and marketing officer Matthew Walton.
Walton is now assessing whether it actually needs physical offices in Melbourne – the team is still working remotely – and he expects to use a similar service centre rather than taking on another lease when it returns to face-to-face work, cutting rental costs by about 70%.
Leaving the standard office space behind has “changed the mindset around how you need to recruit”, and “taken the blinkers off” just how much can be achieved with technology, he says.
Similarly, IT recruiter Real Time Australia recently gave up its Sydney and Melbourne offices, home to eight and two staff respectively, in favour of remote work, leading to a six-figure reduction in rent and outgoings, says head of partnerships Ellis Taylor.
He says the business is following the lead of its software development clients, “who have been hiring from us remotely for years”.
The company was largely working remotely throughout the pandemic, and didn’t renew its leases when they expired in June. Now Real Time uses short-term and flexible workspace provider Spacenow for its weekly and fortnightly meetups.
“We have created an agile recruitment methodology, which means we’re actually a lot faster… and more productive than being in an office,” Ellis says, noting an increase in delivery rates in particular.
He admits, however, that it is harder to collaborate on strategy and to innovate with purely remote work, which is why some face-to-face time at Spacenow venues is important.