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More Women, More Immigration: Randstad CEO On UK Need For Corporate Talent

This article is more than 9 years old.

Jacques van den Broek, the Dutch Global CEO of Randstad, is a refreshing source for a journalist: outspoken and seemingly without that often alleged and sometimes derided male CEO ego. So when he says that the UK is 'losing the war for talent' and needs to compete better by increasing female participation in the workforce and "increase net immigration", it gets even better. Randstad says it is the "second largest HR services provider in the world" on its website.

Its latest analysis of new population statistics suggests the size of the UK's executive population "is shrinking significantly and will continue to do so in the future." It quotes UK Government ONS statistics as predicting that "by 2015, the UK's supply of 30-45 year olds will have shrunk to 12.5 million. " That represents a decline - albeit a small one - in the working age population.

Randstad as a business has decided it means that the answer is "to do two things: to increase the number of women in the workforce and to increase net migration." Both are in the limelight in Britain in different ways - the issue of the under-representation of women in the boardrooms of publicly listed companies has been well addressed in the last three years, with the UK government adopting a carrot-and-stick approach, and UK business showing signs of  innovation.

But 'net migration' is a political hot potato. So when Mr van den Broek speaks openly of "this populistic wave of let's not have more foreigners across Europe" and indicates "it shouldn't be like that" - he has my full attention.

"The UK has a decent amount of women in the workplace, at 65% - the European average" he says. There are ways to increase that, he suggests, and it is about infrastructure - better childcare, and better - more flexible - employment contracts.

But, when it comes to immigration, the picture is clearer.  Currently, the long term assumption for net immigration to the United Kingdom is +165,000 each year, reflecting recent trends in international migration, says Randstad. However, the current UK government has expressed the desire to see net migration down to the 'tens of thousands.'

"In a complex global economy, talented professionals have never been more highly valued. But you wouldn't guess that from the changes that have been made to the UK's immigration laws over the years - or from the attitude of the government to immigration.The UK has shut the door on the skill-sets the country needs. The South Africans were the first to be hit but as visa restrictions have kicked in, the number of employees from Australia and New Zealand has plummeted, too. Added to that is the drain on indigenous workforce as emerging markets suck talent out of the country" says Mr Van den Broek.

"Without a change of tune on immigration, Britain won't just lose the War For Talent - it will be vanquished. The only way to avoid unconditional surrender is to embrace immigration" he adds.

In London last night an unusual 'Business and Ethnicity' summit was held at the Institute of Directors, sponsored by Aberdeeen Asset Management.  There are many who would observe that the flagging membership of the IOD reflects an inability to represent the present, rather than the past - let alone the future - so this was a welcome change.

The room may actually have represented Britain, in terms of the split between non-white and white faces. The purpose was to "explore why relatively few people from minority ethnic backgrounds make it to the top of British business and look at policies and initiatives that could help broaden diversity in corporate Britain."

At the start one of the panel speakers said to me privately: "people in this country  are deeply afraid of this subject."

I fear that is an accurate taking of the pulse of the nation's leadership, so it will be a long haul finding the right way forward - which is a great shame for all concerned. But power is never shared lightly, more so when it is clear that there will have to be a significant sharing.

Vivian Hunt, UK Managing Partner, Mckinsey , made the direction clear for corporate leadership everywhere. "For the first time we have quantified it…racial diversity is as important as that of gender in financial performance" she said. Not tokenism, but critical mass is the key, and "in an interconnected world it will matter more and more in the retention of talent" said Ms Hunt.

Or, to put it another way for boardrooms everywhere in the words of Trevor Phillips : "Looking at where the markets are for the UK: they won't buy from UK plc if it looks the way it does today."

That salient point might be the one that concentrates minds best on the need for ethnic diversity in boardrooms and across business.