National recruitment firm Collar Group collapses into administration with 20pc of its workforce axed

A national recruitment and employment agency has collapsed into administration, with 32 people already told they had lost their jobs.

WA-headquartered Collar Group appointed David Ross and David Ingram of I&R Advisory as administrators early this week, a decision the company said was a necessary step “to align expenses with our current revenue realities”.

In an email seen by The West Australian, Collar founder and chief executive Ephram Stephenson told staff the company would undertake a strategic restructure over the next few weeks.

“Due to the recent rapid employee growth within the company during a challenging financial landscape, we’ve had to make the tough decision to reduce our workforce by 20 per cent across all areas of the company,” Mr Stephenson said in the email sent on Monday.

“I understand this news is devastating for many of you. As a leadership team, we have not taken this decision lightly.”

The company employed more than 100 full time employees and on its website claims Mineral Resources, Monadelphous and Duratec among its clients.

Headquartered in Rivervale, Collar has nine offices in Australia, including three in Perth, and one each in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Collar is also a sponsor of the Western Force rugby team.

Administrator Mr Ross told The West on Wednesday Collar had entered voluntary administration for a period of six weeks.

“Clients and candidates can expect the business will remain fully operational over this time, while administrators consolidate activities and set the business on a course of sustained growth,” he said.

A former staff claimed she found out about her termination by being locked out of Teams and signed out of her Microsoft account, which Mr Ross said was untrue.

“Collar team members impacted by the restructure were advised via the appointed administrators, as is due process,” Mr Ross said.