Industry recruitment struggles becoming “very difficult”, especially in rural areas, new stats indicate

Some 82% of beauty, hairdressing and barbering employers said that recruiting qualified and experienced staff is either “very difficult” or “difficult”, according to new stats from the National Hairdressers’ Federation (NHF).

The NHF carried out a survey in June this year and discovered that recruitment is particularly difficult for businesses in rural locations.

Employers reported that recruiting apprentices is also tough. Around one third of survey respondents pay their apprentices more than the National Minimum Wage but 33% still find recruiting apprentices “very difficult” and 39% find it “difficult” in their area.

The employers surveyed also said college training courses don’t equip leavers with the technical and social skills employers need, and that potential trainees are put off by the perception of beauty as a low pay industry.

Chief executive of the NHF, Hilary Hall, said: “Wages are already increasing rapidly due to the National Living Wage, but employers may have no option but to pay more if they want to attract the right people into their business and keep them there. Increasing competition from other employers, coupled with a shortage of people looking for work, is creating a recruitment crisis across the UK.”