Recruiters say Brexit job losses have already begun

Many Brexit Remain campaigners have warned of the severe impact to the economy in the event of a UK exit from the European Union on June 23rd, but some experts believe that the downturn has begun already.

"Companies are pushing the pause button," said Kit Bingham from research firm Odgers Berndston. A poll from the company last month found that a quarter of FTSE 350 companies would consider transferring a part of their business overseas in the event of Brexit.

Even the fact that there is doubt about the decision has led some economists to conclude that there could be significant lag in the availability of jobs.

A quarter of FTSE 350 companies would consider transferring a part of their business overseas in the event of Brexit

The slow down in hiring during the last few month is certain "to come up in the GDP numbers," says Swati Dhingra, an assistant professor at the London School of Economics. "There's going to be a lag. It won't recover overnight."

In human resources, hiring decreased 28 percent in the first five months of the year, figurtes released by Digby Morgan revealed, the Randstad unit that focuses on that field. And polls predicting a close vote have contributed to the shift, according to Tom Forrest, Digby Morgan’s managing director.

“In a way, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Forrest said. “The more everyone talks, the more everyone believes it. Our clients crave certainty.” And therein lies the dilemma, the uncertainty paves way for further uncertainty, an idea that investors are not particularly keen on.

Financial services and technology companies could be two of the worst hit areas. According to data from the University of Oxford, 340,000 EU citizens are employed in the UK finance sector. America's biggest bank JP Morgan has said it may move its 16,000 British workers to Europe. “Brexit could mean fewer JPMorgan jobs in the U.K. and more jobs in Europe,” said Jamie Dimon, the bank’s CEO.

Banks and tech companies for sure would be greatly affected, but perhaps more so job losses would be felt in retail and hospitality services, as Europeans make up a huge share of the unskilled work force.

Perhaps " lower down the food chain" is where people would feel the losses the most, as many skilled workers will be well-qualified and almost instantly qualify for visas, said Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory, a research group at Oxford.