Recruiters' views on the smoking ban

Now in full swing across the UK, the smoking ban is causing controversy in all industries. Although it’s the hospitality trade making the most noise, clearly the ban will have far reaching consequences.

We all know that Recruitment can be a very stressful job; targets to hit, clients to please, promotion to chase. For many Recruiters smoking has always been one of the ways of gaining a short respite from the ongoing pressures. The ‘fag break’ was always a chance to share some gossip or even have a moan about the boss. Aston Taylor, the UK’s premier Recruitment-to-Recruitment Consultancy, conducted a poll amongst Recruiters across the country. The poll simply asked: “do you agree with the smoking ban?”

“We found overwhelming support of the proposed bans, with over 80% welcoming a ban on smoking and 20% rejecting it”, says Vic Chuntz, CEO, Aston Taylor. Along with the results came a few extra comments. Many smokers said they need all the help they can get in quitting the habit and perhaps a total ban, although painful, will be the best option. Many non-smoking Recruiters said they were fed-up having to work while their colleagues had extra breaks and fed-up with the mess created outside their offices. However, one (anonymous) Recruiter commented that his Team Leader will have nothing to do now smoking has been banned completely.