The new normal for recruiting

May 20th, 2022 | Industry News

Recruitment has always been a challenge. Add to that the difficulties of the pandemic and the unique tribulations of relatively new industries like fintech, crypto and blockchain and even the best recruitment CRM is facing unprecedented demands. But all this is part of the new normal for recruiting – and web based recruitment software is at the forefront of it all.

While research suggests on average we change jobs a dozen times over our career, for fintech, crypto and blockchain this is the low end of the scale. There are two reasons for this:

1. There is no established career path into two of these industries (crypto and blockchain) and fintech is an industry still relying on transferable skills
2. The growth in all these areas is exponential (in 2017 a study estimated 1900 employees in crypto, today it’s at least six times that) – meaning that importing from other sectors is the only way to fill jobs.

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Post-COVID good news for recruitment agencies

May 12th, 2022 | Industry News

Two recent surveys show that both permanent and contract vacancies increased in the twelve months to February 2022. This has translated into better sales revenue for the sector, increasing 49% year on year for permanent vacancy and a remarkable 80% for temporary and contract vacancies – an obvious response to the hiring landscape created by COVID. Online recruitment software demonstrates that to convert revenue to profit, recruitment agencies need to improve not only their attraction and placement of candidates but also their administrative functions so that they are able to streamline processes, spend less on back office and engage good candidates at the time and place of the candidate’s choosing – combining web based recruitment software with the very best recruitment CRM allows agencies to become the first choice for both candidates and clients.

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Demand for recruitment software grows

April 26th, 2022 | Industry News

A recent international report suggested that the recruitment software market saw a year on year growth of 4.74% in 2020, at a time when many industries were flat-lining due to COVID-19. With a projected market growth of £521 million between 2020 and 2024 and Europe providing maximum growth opportunities, it all sounds good for companies like Recruit So Simple. But what’s driving the demand, and where is it likely to lead?

One consideration is the linkage between the economy and the recruitment industry – low unemployment leads to a decrease in demand for recruiters, but even when unemployment is low, there can still be substantial skill shortages. One of the biggest growth areas predicted in the recruitment software sector is SaaS recruitment agencies, as these have particular appeal for SMEs and companies recruiting short-term expertise, allowing for maximum flexibility in working hours and responsiveness, exactly where SMEs excel.

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Recruitment: trends, ‘talent crisis’ and Ukrainian refugees

March 22nd, 2022 | Industry News

A recent American survey reveals that a third of employees who were consulted, said they are considering changing employer in the next 12 months. It’s clear evidence of the way that people are approaching employment. SAAS recruitment agencies are seeing that candidates are seeking to move companies, a trend that is in line with the talent crisis and which is being driven by the belief (75%) that they are loyal to their employer while their employer, 56% believe, is not loyal to them. Some companies are calling this a ‘talent crisis’ while others are describing it as ‘consumering employment’. In other words, candidates are looking for the same experience in recruitment as they do in purchasing: rapid responses (often automated, like self-checkouts), 24 hour engagement (like chat bots when shopping) and frictionless processes (fewer hurdles, or applications become like abandoned shopping carts).

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Hidden trends in UK recruitment

March 8th, 2022 | Industry News

Every industry is having its recruitment issues – and one that we’re probably not that aware of is the crisis in the security industry. From prison work to door duty to driving, the security industry has faced a crossroads with employees sitting in furlough and looking at the demands of high-risk work and antisocial hours. Online recruitment software has definitely seen this trend, with a high number of security officers registering their interest in a career change.

Problems don’t end there: security personnel also have to maintain Security Industry Authority (SIA) qualifications and undertake compulsory training at their own cost, while many of them have been in the front line, facing a high risk of contracting COVID-19. Finally, many security personnel have not renewed visas and moved/returned to EU countries.

Recruiting and retaining talent has become essential, and key approaches include:

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Recruitment sector by sector and online

February 27th, 2022 | Industry News

In the finance industry, multinational companies have set up bonus policies and bonus parity schemes to try and combat the Great Resignation and to retain talent or attract new employees. Recruitment software is being used to track the bonus schemes offered by rival finance institutions so that bonuses offered have parity, with the addition of a sign-on policy and a loyalty bonus at the end of the first year, they hope this will bring talent to their organisation or keep it there.

In construction, in the USA, where women are 14% of the workforce and ethnic minority representation is a mere 6%, recent research shows that less than a third of individuals believe construction is an industry ‘for them’. Online recruitment software can find individuals with transferable skills and signpost them to sectors they might not otherwise have considered, but industry-wide there’s a drive to create a new perception in social media to help grow recruitment in currently underrepresented groups.

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UK recruitment trends: fact and figures

February 8th, 2022 | Industry News

A survey of more than a thousand UK HR decision-makers shows that work priorities have changed: while COVID-19 cases are still a major preoccupation, causing concern for 44% of respondents, inflation and the cost of living are expected to impact 62% of organisations. 17% of employers say they will struggle to pay competitive salaries in the current market, while 42% of the UK based workforce is seeking a higher salary in the first six months of the year. Even more startling, 71% of candidates are willing to change sectors to obtain higher wages. Recruitment software is going to need to demonstrate increasing sophistication to recognise transferable skills and identify potential candidates from outside the standard sectoral boundaries.

Recruiting software and the Great Resignation

The best recruitment CRM will also help HR professionals meet another challenge – the Great Resignation. The claim that there are ‘talent wars’ may be overstated, but certain sectors, such as construction, healthcare and IT are seeing intense movement as people seek better pay, greater opportunities or just decide to take several months off, knowing that there will be a job for them when they return. This behaviour which began early in 2021, shows no sign of disappearing and certainly in IT, where individuals can boost their income by taking time off to earn a new certification, returning to the workplace ‘retooled’ for a better role.

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Starting Out and “Selling Out” – thoughts for 2022

January 26th, 2022 | Industry News

Starting Out

So you’re thinking of starting a recruitment agency? Good for you. As we continue to adjust to living with a pandemic, few things contribute as much to personal wellbeing and the economy as employment. Given that 73% of candidates claim that job-hunting is one of the most stressful things they’ve ever done, good recruitment agencies can really help improve life for many people.

Are you going to specialise?

Your choices are:

• Executive and head hunting
• Specialist recruitment
• Temporary recruitment
• General recruitment

Of course, with good online recruitment software you can segment your offering so that you work in more than one area, without looking like you’re spreading yourself too thinly. Natural partners are Executive and Temporary (placing interim executives is lucrative and rewarding) and Specialist and Temporary (same deal – if you’re recruiting in a limited area, you probably have a pool of candidates who could be placed via short term contracts using recruitment database software to meet client needs effectively).

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COVID + recruitment – the effects so far

January 10th, 2022 | Industry News

The Covid pandemic, which has killed an estimated 5,500,000 people worldwide, and has damaged many businesses, some of them irreparably, has caused seismic shifts in the recruitment industry.

During 2021 recruitment companies bore much of the brunt of the various lockdowns and restrictions. While actual recruitment, especially via HR departments, almost disappeared at times, employee retention – not usually a focus for recruitment agencies – became a paramount concern. Recruiting software that combines the best recruitment CRM with online capacity has given recruitment agencies who make the most of this software the ability to support their clients in keeping the staff they have through:

• internal promotion and team-building
• expression of organisational values through internal recruitment adverts
• developing onboarding processes to help organisations remain afloat in turbulent waters by reassigning personnel and redefining job descriptions.

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Recruitment strategies for 2021 and beyond

December 6th, 2021 | Industry News

There are national, and even international, changes that are affecting the world of recruitment. In Taiwan, a new law has allowed for greater flexibility in recruiting foreign professionals, and especially, making Taiwan a more attractive place for graduates to come and live – and work. Web based recruitment software shows a definite trend for major companies to have upped their game around international recruitment, and the legislation makes clear it’s not just C-suite positions that they are recruiting for. Another thing that recruitment software reveals is the extent to which all potential candidates above entry level are being sought, even wooed, by forward-thinking employers. From LinkedIn articles through to targeted advertising, graduate level employees are being exposed to employment opportunities and introduced to potential future employers in systematic ways that require creative approaches and excellent recruitment CRM software to identify, engage and maintain relationships with a talent pool.

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