Former CMA chief Andrea Coscelli left the supervisory body last year to join a firm that advised Microsoft on a blocked mega-merger. regulator falls short of hiring targets.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has admitted it is grappling with rising turnover rates as officials leave for better-paying jobs in the private sector.
This is as the CMA seeks to hire hundreds of new employees to take on new post-Brexit responsibilities and tough new powers to take on the tech giants.
The regulator has been criticized for the way it has handled deals, including Microsoft's $69bn (£54bn) takeover of Activision Blizzard, and has been accused of holding back growth in the UK.
The CMA's annual report showed a turnover rate of 15.6% in 20 21-2022, up from 13% a year earlier and 9.7% a year earlier. This is equivalent to 125 out of approximately 800 full-time employees.
The company admitted that it fell short of hiring expectations due to «difficulties in recruiting for positions created by hard-to-fill professionals.»
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The CMA added that it was «experiencing issues with retention and hiring processes» that left positions unfilled for longer.
Most of the employees who left did so because of pay increases and benefits.
While the turnover rate is not much higher than other regulators, a rise in layoffs is occurring as it seeks to recruit more staff to work with new powers to tackle big tech.
The expansion of the CMA's role after Brexit, which saw the UK take over new competition responsibilities from Brussels, has caught the attention of the regulator and caused law firms and multinationals to scramble to hire competition experts in the UK.
Former CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli stepped down last year to join Keystone Strategy, which advised Microsoft on the Activision Blizzard takeover.
CMA head of data Stefan Hunt joined when he left for Keystone, while senior strategy director Stuart Hudson moved to PR firm Brunswick, which also advised the tech giant.
These individuals have not been involved in the Microsoft deal since leaving the CMA due to conflict of interest rules that prevent them from working on cases they were involved with the regulator.
Chairman Jonathan Scott also left the regulator last year.
Sarah Cardell, who replaced Mr. markets, from 70 to 200 people.
top CMA position in 2022 Sarah Cardell has faced pressure from regulatory interference. Photo: Betty Laura Zapata
On Friday, a House of Lords committee warned that the CMA could be outbid on talent.
«There is a significant disparity in resources between CMA and SMS businesses,» the Communications and Digital Technology Committee letter to Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said, referring to large technology companies with «strategic market status.»
It says the Treasury must keep CMA's resources in check.
The CMA is under increasing pressure over its decision to block the Microsoft takeover after a US court rejected US regulators' attempts to block the deal.
The UK regulator blocked the acquisition in April, but EU approval and FTC's legal defeats have left it as the last body standing in its way.
The CMA and Microsoft are currently discussing new proposals that could allow it to pass.
Ms. Cardell told Bloomberg on Friday that the regulator was not under pressure to renegotiate the deal and that Microsoft should come up with a proposal that would address her concerns.
However, Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, told the CMA after the decision was made that it should understand its «broader responsibility for economic growth.»
The body also faced criticism oh from the industrial enterprises. This is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of the richest men in the UK.
He said he is becoming «an overly aggressive regulator with little regard for the impact of his decisions on British business.»
On Thursday, he said he would investigate multinational food companies such as Unilever, Mondelez and Coca-Cola over fears that consumers are overcharging food.
The company said it found no evidence of speculation by supermarkets.
The CMA did not comment.
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