ROGUE recruitment companies are damaging the fleet industry by placing staff with companies and then poaching them back months later, creating a jobs 'merry-go-round', it has been claimed. Industry experts agree the practice does go on, but say that recruitment firms who do it are at risk of being blacklisted by customers and going out of business.

Manchester-based fleet management specialist AT&T Automotive Systems has condemned some firms' 'place-then-poach' tactics, saying the long-term effect on the industry is unhealthy. Sales director Tim Jones, said he knew of cases where staff had been placed with firms only to be lured away later.

He said: 'Recruitment agencies reap huge fees, so it is in their interests to keep up a constant flow of people moving from one company to another. They don't realise that over time this could have a damaging effect on our industry, because organisations end up with constantly changing workforce and no continuity.'

Tony Jones, managing director of Humana International, specialists in search, more commonly known as head-hunting, said: 'The contract hire world is about taking business from your competitors, but in the world of recruitment, that business is employees. We would not approach someone we had found for a company.'

But the industry does acknowledge it goes on and firms were in agreement that bosses in the fleet industry should choose recruitment companies carefully. Rob Gill, business services consultant at Highfield International, said: 'Some agencies are simply involved in finding a short-term, quick fix for companies, which see them making a fast buck.' The best way to protect yourself is to make sure you use a firm backed by an authorising body, according to Alastair Ames, founder of the search and recruitment company of the same name.