How is the gig economy affecting the recruitment industry?
June 6th, 2018 | Industry News
Around five million people, either contractors or working as temps, are involved in the gig economy in the UK. The latest government white paper says that 4.4% of the UK population had undertaken some kind of work in the gig economy in 2017 and that for the first time, half of those undertaking gig work were under 35. It’s a fascinating snapshot of how this new way of working, which is entirely fuelled by digital technology, is affecting recruitment and the economy more generally.
Recruitment agencies have already discovered that the pattern of working has changed massively over the past decade, and at an accelerating rate in the past five years. The main changes being:
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The role of recruiting software in new industry sectors
May 21st, 2018 | Industry News
China’s executive recruitment
One of the most surprising areas of growth for recruitment agencies in the past 18 months has been headhunting executives for China.
The People’s Daily newspaper reports that the recruitment market in China has seen a 12.9% growth year on year and the shortage of high level candidates in the country has led to a number of sectors seeking help to find executive talent via recruitment consultancies around the world. Web based recruitment software has given headhunters and recruitment consultancies the scope to identify candidates who are willing to help China’s rapidly expanding industries and that same recruiting software is able to fast track ideal candidates whilst helping consultants educate their clients about what kind of package might best appeal to this external talent pool, persuading it to commit to a career that includes a spell in China.
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Rate your recruiter and how to choose recruitment software, Middle East style
May 7th, 2018 | Industry News
A ‘TripAdvisor’ for migrant workers has been set up by the International Trade Union Confederation, giving workers who’ve lacked a voice the chance to ‘rate’ their recruiters and inform others about potential pitfalls and abuses. It’s a global portal, currently available in English, Indonesian, Nepali and Tagalog. The International Labour Organisation claims round 25 million people were coerced into forced labour in 2016, and this portal is designed to help reduce the incidence of workers paying fees to a recruitment agency for a ‘good job abroad’ that turns out to be little more than slave labour. Recruitment software from reputable organisations can help stamp out this practice by registering legal migrant workers and thus moving up the ranking so that they rank highly meaning that the best recruitment software for agencies will inevitably help its users benefit from their good reputations and ensure they are the first choice for highly qualified workers seeking to travel abroad for work.
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Recruitment and data protection – the elephant in the room
April 24th, 2018 | Industry News
Cambridge Analytica might be today’s Bond villains, but data protection isn’t just an issue for Facebook users. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which comes into effect in May 2018, will affect every UK business that stores data. Brexit has added an unwelcome level of uncertainty about UK legislation but for most organisations it’s wise to attempt GDPR compliance even if they are not selling goods or services to individuals in other EU countries. Why? Well because the UK government has already stated that it will implement ‘equivalent or alternative legal mechanisms’ which means that GDPR works as a good baseline whilst we wait to see what the UK actually does.
So… what has this to do with recruitment? Well, recruitment database software is likely to be seen as an ‘easy target’ when testing GDPR compliance, meaning that recruitment consultancies may find themselves in the front line when GDPR test cases are brought and when regulating bodies start inspections. For small and specialist recruiters this is a real headache. Making their files GDPR compliant has already led to many deciding that they will simply strip out much of their database information – this means that passive candidates will be removed, leaving only currently active candidates.
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As the UK recruitment industry expands, it struggles with diversity
April 9th, 2018 | Industry News
The news that more new recruitment consultancies were set up in January and February of this year than in 2017 suggests that the industry is faring well. The 1,777 new agencies demonstrate an increase of 9% over the previous year and each of these agencies will be looking for the competitive edge against both established rivals and other new entrants. Online recruitment software may provide the advantage that these new businesses are seeking for three reasons:
- Streamlined recruitment management software gives them the ability to focus on what distinguishes them from competitors rather than wasting time on mundane processes
- Personal engagement with both clients and candidates can be furthered through using software as a service to garner and store information that builds deeper relationships in both directions
- Rapid responses to changes in the marketplace are likely to be required of all successful recruitment agencies – those using recruitment database software that is flexible, intuitive and regularly upgraded by the provider are more likely to be able to make those responsive alterations that give the agency the edge.
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UK recruitment focus – March 2018
March 22nd, 2018 | Industry News
The next recruitment crisis – STEM
Most industries already know that recruiting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) candidates is getting tougher. Even the best recruitment CRM can struggle to identify more than a few available candidates for senior level positions in these fields. A recent survey of 186 chemists reveals that they believe their profession is in crisis. A third of those who responded said that low recruitment numbers were creating a serious problem. Why? Well, despite Breaking Bad, chemistry is not as exciting as some other science fields and lacks the big public awareness stories that physics (Large Hadron Collider) and biology (Human Genome Project) use to drive recruitment.
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Career showcases and the power of data
March 8th, 2018 | Industry News
Many employers are exploring the possibilities that career showcasing can offer recruitment. For example, over 700 people recently travelled to North Tyneside for a recruitment event hosted by a training organisation for a wind industry service provider.
Career showcasing offers recruiters the following benefits:
- Talent identification – both current and future
- Pipelining for planned projects
- Immediate need recruitment
There’s a further benefit too, which is that over time, sophisticated recruitment software can track attenders at such events, chart their career progress and recognise where top talent pools are likely to accumulate. Web based recruitment software can be used in real time to log the engagement of candidates at showcases, giving a 360 degree picture of their interests and preferences, allowing savvy recruiters to stockpile talent for future use and to identify likely career trajectories, giving them the ability to forecast when a particular candidate will be of maximum value to an organisation.
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Needing defenders and becoming social – UK recruitment practices in the spotlight
February 21st, 2018 | Industry News
A survey of recruitment consultants in January 2018 revealed that 80% are ‘sick of defending their profession’ from claims they are unscrupulous and greedy. Why does recruitment have such a bad reputation?
Partly it’s historical, recruiters were equated with second-hand car dealers because they were paid like them – if you only got money when you filled a vacancy you lied, cheated and manipulated to get anybody into any job. But partly it’s modern – the average recruitment database is filled with candidates who are never contacted and therefore feel neglected and unwanted. Today’s recruitment system doesn’t generally focus on the candidate, and it’s easy for them to feel like little more than job fodder unless they are highly skilled, head-huntable individuals who get wined and dined before being offered jobs!
But that’s not how it has to be. Today’s online recruitment software is capable of automating many tasks so that both clients and candidates are kept in touch with recruitment progress. In addition, easy to use recruitment software gives recruitment consultants lots more time to spend with both clients and candidates, doing the part of the job that really matters, understanding needs, communicating and matching up perfect candidates with ideal jobs.
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Recruiting’s biggest challenges in 2018
February 7th, 2018 | Industry News
LinkedIn’s 2018 Global Recruiting Trends report contains a fascinating range of challenges for recruiters in the year ahead – although a number of them seem to conflict with wider trends in the UK economic climate. A major theme is the role of diversity – which 82% of hirers saw as the top trend for the year, at a time when almost every professional and trade body is expressing concern about the effect of Brexit on the candidate pool and especially, the tendency for top talent to be seeking jobs outside the UK because of employment uncertainty.
A second factor that will challenge hiring managers, is the ability to assess soft skills, which 63% of those surveyed said was a problem. Soft skills are notoriously difficult to interview for which is why recruitment software that can build soft skills evidence in to the applicant tracking system is likely to be invaluable to companies and recruitment agencies seeking candidates with well-developed communication and teamwork attributes.
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Recruitment resolutions to make in 2018
January 19th, 2018 | Industry News
We’ve been looking around at industry predictions and reviewing 2017’s highs and lows to come up with some recruitment resolutions that will help your organisation in 2018.
1. Recruit/Promote/Replace – be visionary about growth
According to a survey of nearly 1,000 recruiters, 76% of managers are planning to promote staff, while 24% are intending to replace departing staff with technology that will perform their functions. At a time when recruitment is booming in certain industries, finding suitable consultants can be time-consuming. Chatbots that handle the first stages of candidate filtering are becoming commonplace. Even simple recruitment software now offers sophisticated applicant tracking systems that reduce the time spent on administration and give consultants more time to do the really important human tasks such as building trust and understanding client needs.
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