Why MEP Contractors Struggle to Hire Commercial Talent

Every MEP contractor we work with tells the same story: commercial roles stay open for months while projects pile up. The shortage is real, but the causes are more specific than a general skills gap, and most of them are within the contractor's control.

The pool is smaller than it looks

There are plenty of Quantity Surveyors in the UK. There are far fewer with current M&E package experience on critical infrastructure, and fewer still who can run compensation events on an NEC programme without supervision. When you specify all three, you are recruiting from a pool measured in the low hundreds, not thousands.

Most of those people are not browsing job boards. They are employed, well paid and only move for a clear step up. That is why most of our placements are never advertised.

Counter-offers are the norm, not the exception

On live data centre programmes, losing a good QS mid-package is expensive. Employers know it, and counter-offers of 10 to 15 percent are routine. Candidates who are only moving for money almost always take the counter-offer. The candidates who stay moved for scope, project quality or progression, which is why we qualify motivation before we submit anyone.

Slow processes lose candidates

A strong commercial candidate typically has two or three processes running in parallel. A three-week gap between interview stages reads as indifference, and the best people withdraw. The contractors who consistently hire well run tight processes: brief agreed in days, interviews inside a week, offer within 48 hours of the final stage.

What to do about it

If a commercial role has been open for more than a month, something in the brief, the package or the process is wrong. Call us and we will tell you which.

• Write briefs around the actual package and contract form, not a generic job description
• Benchmark salary or day rate before you go to market, not after the first rejection
• Compress your process: two stages maximum for contract roles
• Use a specialist who can reach passive candidates, not just applicants