The wrong hire now carries major costs for businesses, says CJPI

Chris Percival, founder and managing director at CJPI, said the wrong hire now carried a much higher cost for businesses, with factors like legal fees, new regulations and increased national insurance meaning there was no room for error. 

Recruitment costs for senior roles in the UK passed £19,000, with higher national insurance and new day-one employment rights. 

The cost of a mis-hire increased, including legal and administrative work.

Under new rules, the probation period did not give the same protection as before.

Percival said: “If you hire for a static job description from 2023, you are likely hiring for tasks that an LLM (Large Language Model) can now handle, leaving your new employee underutilised and disengaged.” 

Poor cultural fit also disrupted teams, especially in hybrid or remote work.

Analysis showed firms moved away from long lists of requirements and years of experience. 

Skills-based hiring grew, especially in technical sectors where the shortage of skills continued. Employers removed degree bias, used micro-credentials and portfolios, and looked for learning agility.