Battle for staff escalates as major contractors increase bounty payments for top staff

Several of the UK鈥檚 biggest contractors are introducing lucrative bonuses for staff who attract recruits, amid growing evidence of a skills crisis at management level.

Bovis Lend Lease is offering staff up to 拢5,000 to find recruits with skills in short supply. This fee was raised from 拢1,500 in early February.

Costain is planning to double its finder鈥檚 fee from 拢1,000 to 拢2,000 in March for staff who recruit people for 鈥渒ey roles鈥� within the company. Others who have introduced rewards include Interserve and HBG (see box).

Carillion is also considering offering a finder鈥檚 fee, which it has not done in the past.

These rewards are evidence of the increasingly competitive poaching of senior staff between companies. The Bovis reward is equal to that of a top City law firm and outstrips that in many other industries.

Mel Williams, head of recruitment at Bovis, said: 鈥淲e needed to do more to fight the talent shortage.鈥�

It is also launching a beefed-up recruitment campaign.

At Bovis the maximum fee is offered to those who help to recruit planners, cost planners, commercial managers and project managers with design-and-build expertise. Staff who find senior recruits such as project directors, senior commercial and project managers will also be paid.

The bonus applies even to recruits found in other parts of Lend Lease, fuelling rumours of poaching between divisions.

Graham Franks, a regional director at Interserve, said he was not surprised by the moves. He said the finder鈥檚 fee at Interserve was 鈥渘ot dissimilar鈥� to Bovis鈥� but said he would not reveal numbers for fear of sparking a price war.

He said: 鈥溌�5,000 is not even as much as the cut some recruitment agencies take on a salary of, say, 拢33,000. They tend to take between 12% and 17%.鈥�