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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Hidden reasons to use a recruitment agency

November 30th, 2021 | Industry News

Many people understand the obvious reasons to use recruitment services:

• Saving money – recruitment agencies and recruitment software in particular, save any company money by working more efficiently, automating processes and freeing up your personnel to do their jobs
• Drawing on wider resources – your exposure to your own industry can be partial at best, because there’s all that stuff about confidentiality and competitiveness that can make it difficult to have real depth. The best recruitment software for agencies helps recruiters to identify outstanding candidates that might not be visible to you.

But there are other reasons that should be taken into account when you’re deciding whether to use a recruitment agency, such as:

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Budget responses and candidate ‘journeys’

November 16th, 2021 | Industry News

When Rishi Sunak suggested that funding for apprenticeships, skills bootcamps and creating new Institutes of Technology would help fill the vacancies gap, the response from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation was swift. Whilst welcoming these initiatives a spokesperson said that the apprenticeship levy was ‘acting as a brake on prospects for young people’.

Recruitment database software confirms that many younger candidates lack entry level skills for a lot of jobs, and that while the proposed numeracy programme – Multiply – may help, recruitment management software cannot resolve the issue that access to training and development is unevenly applied across the UK.

For employers, especially when recruiting at the entry level, this can be a huge issue. There’s not much scope for relocation or commuting at that end of the career spectrum, and yet without good candidates at the base level, organisations cannot up-skill or train employees to grow with their employer.

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Needing more workers means doing more work

October 25th, 2021 | Industry News

The stark truth about recruitment in the 2021 is that it’s hard work! In the USA three-quarters of companies say they are struggling to fulfil vacancies, 77% say they expect this to continue for at least a year. In the UK job vacancies between July and September 2021 hit a record high of 1,102,000. Simply put, people are leaving work and nobody is taking their place. Companies need to learn to think differently to succeed.

Key points are:

Explore the future

Technology will be your friend or your enemy – it’s up to you. As you grow or change your team, consider how the future of work is changing. Remote working is a reality that we were forced to adjust to, but what other forms of technology can you adopt to help you find candidates? The best recruitment CRM doesn’t just spot candidates, it shapes the way your company engages with them and defines how your organisation is seen.

Look at your budget

What do you need to fund, apart from salaries? Do you need better recruitment software? Should you be running an advert online? Would a meet-and-greet event in a local hotel help? Are there benefits you can offer, or add-ons that won’t upset your current workforce, that might help you succeed at recruitment?

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Full database – empty jobs: the conundrum of recruitment post-COVID

October 13th, 2021 | Industry News

Even the best recruitment software for agencies can’t make people sign up for work. The UK furlough scheme has ended, emergency unemployment benefits in the USA ceased several weeks ago, but the expected upsurge in interest in work hasn’t emerged. The President of the American Staffing Association puts it this way, “People who have been on the sidelines have by and large stayed on the sidelines”. In July there were a record 10.9 million job vacancies int the USA.

So what can recruiters do? Online recruitment software can use a softly softly approach engaging potential employees, using automated systems like newsletters and follow up emails to keep in touch with candidates who once expressed interest in employment but are now hesitating to go back to work. Addressing the reasons that people aren’t seeking work can help employers find new staff. There’s been a surge in online applications, but not a matching one in face-to-face engagement. Why?

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Furlough fall out in the UK

September 22nd, 2021 | Industry News

The end of the furlough scheme in September is not expected to have much impact on the record number of empty jobs in the UK, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation is warning. There were 1.6 million vacancies at the beginning of September, and the number is growing. Recruitment agencies are reporting that these shortfalls are hitting both highly qualified jobs and basic labour positions, which is exacerbated by the effects of Brexit. Over a million employees will find out their employment status on 30 September when the scheme ends and UK agencies making the best use of recruitment software have shown a surge of currently employed people looking for their next job ahead of expected bad news on that date. Of course bad news for some will be they have no job to return to, while for others it will be being asked to return to work!

Changing careers is a real option – currently in demand are delivery drivers, driving instructors, plumbers and vehicle repairers.

Talent attraction in the recruitment future

September 7th, 2021 | Industry News

Almost every country and business sector in the world is still experiencing the seismic shift to working from home caused by the pandemic. While SAAS recruitment agencies have had the jump on high street based recruiters when it comes to adjusting to recruiting within, and for, industries that haven’t decided their own future shape yet, there’s still much to be learned. For the first time, candidates are ‘ghosting’ employment offers. It’s not clear why this is happening, although recruitment CRM software shows that it’s happening at the latest possible stage in the process – candidates are going right up to the job offer point before simply disappearing and never responding to emails/texts/messages. Partly it may be that people want the reassurance that they are still valuable to potential employers, partly it’s simply due to the fact that, like online dating, the risk of dropping out feels much lower if all the engagement has been online. Some of the reason though, is that it’s undoubtedly a candidate’s market. Anybody with a relevant skill set is free to shop around and see what’s out there, and window shopping doesn’t mean people are in the market to buy… just that they’re amusing themselves with a look at the landscape.

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