A third, or 34%, of small medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK think they have enough information to make recruitment decisions after the UK leaves the European Union, according to a tracker from the Adecco Group UK & Ireland.

Adecco Group’s UK&I's ‘Spring 2019 Brexit Tracker’ found discrepancies between the number of large and small companies ready to make post-Brexit recruitment decisions. It showed that the 34% SME figure was higher than the 22% of larger organisations who appear more unsure of how Brexit will affect them. The quarterly tracker was compiled with data from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Nearly half of respondents (43%) think that Brexit will have a negative impact on their organisation.

The tracker also found that when it comes to the steps being taken to prepare the workforce for Brexit, communicating with staff regarding the potential implications is still the most popular option (26%).

Alex Fleming, Country Head and President of Staffing and Solutions, the Adecco Group UK and Ireland, commented, “Clear and consistent communication with staff is one way to ensure organisations are able to retain existing talent. It's equally important to ensure that organisations are fuelling their own talent pipeline by upskilling employees with both technical and soft skills. These are all factors for companies to take into consideration now, regardless of whether or not they get more clarity around what the final Brexit deal will look like".