Headcount

Headcount reduced in-year from 18,017 on 1 April 2009 to 15,601 by the year-end, a fall of 13%. Of this, approximately 600 people were already under notice at the start of the year, giving an in-year reduction of 1,816 staff from an adjusted opening headcount of approximately 17,400, a reduction of 10% (see Figure 1).

The overall reduction in headcount masked strong performance in several businesses, notably in the energy business which saw growth driven by our continued successes in the nuclear, oil and gas and renewable markets, but was affected in particular by:

• headcount reduction in the Middle East in anticipation of lower activity
• restructuring in our water business
• a general reduction in headcount in most other parts of the business as we sought to improve efficiency.

The level of staff reductions was significantly lower in the fourth quarter and we remain confident that overall headcount has now stabilised and will begin to increase from the half-year onwards.

We recognise that many colleagues have been affected by these reductions and we have worked to alleviate the impact wherever possible. Most importantly we have endeavoured to redeploy those affected to vacancies elsewhere in the Group. Where this has not been possible, due to a mismatch of either skills or geography, we have provided those leaving the Group with outplacement support. Nevertheless, the impact has been significant for many former colleagues and it is sadly the case that career opportunities in the wider market remain very limited for those in certain professions.

Whilst vacancy levels across the Group remained substantially below those seen in recent years, our recruitment performance was good with 1,228 new staff joining during the year: 1,129 via open recruitment and 99 via TUPE transfer.

We maintained our commitment to graduate development, albeit with a substantially reduced intake of 105 trainees (2008/09: 150). Our credentials as a graduate recruiter in the UK were underlined by an improved ranking to 37th place in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers (up from 69th in 2008) and our success in being named Most Popular Recruiter in the Construction and Civil Engineering category at the Target National Graduate Awards for the fifth year. This award is the largest graduate recruitment survey in the UK with feedback gathered through an online campus survey of 90,000 undergraduates over a four-month period ending in January each year.

We were also pleased to be recognised at the UK’s Recruiter Awards as Best Recruitment Team.

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