The recruitment industry has undergone dramatic change in recent years and the most successful agencies have tended to be the ones who have adapted and capitalised on emerging trends, such as social recruiting. Considering the exponential growth of technology, it is vital that your agency stays abreast of rising and falling recruitment trends that could affect your overall business strategy.
At Eclipse Software, we always look forward to the LinkedIn Global Recruitment & Staffing Trends report which gives a clear insight into the wider picture of the industry, and 2017 is no different. By analysing the data, we’ve put together a summary of what trends are already beginning to take shape this year.
The Lay of the Land
Despite global political events that have plagued certain countries in the last 12 months, it seems that recruitment agencies are working even harder to maintain and maximise growth potential. With 68% of staffing firms expecting to increase this year, 79% of staffing firms also expect to see an increase in candidates placed.
So, the mood is positive amongst political uncertainty and this might be due to an inward mentality that many agencies have adopted, refining their own processes and using technology to improve efficiencies to make the most of what they already have.
Read our blog on how to maximise your recruitment processes by adopting LEAN thinking.
Another reason could be the widespread reduction in time to place, with 83% of staffing firms advising that the average is now less than two months. It remains to be seen whether this will affect hiring quality or whether recruitment agencies are maximising the tools at their disposal to find high quality candidates at a faster rate.
Social Media for Agency Branding
Social media savvy recruiters are not only managing to find passive candidates and nurture client relationships online, social media is also becoming the most cost effective way to build your agency’s brand with LinkedIn coming out on top (74%), ahead of Twitter (36%). Referencing this with the current breakdown of recruiting budgets, it is also apparent that social media is delivering significant ROI for its low cost to set up and maintain.
As a platform for branding, social media has huge potential to supplement marketing activity and attract new clients. Looking at the top 5 reasons clients are attracted to work with staffing firms (above), it seems likely that recruiters and will continue to invest more time into managing their social media platforms in 2017.
The Rise in Content Production
Closely linked to social media success is a dedicated content marketing strategy and 2017 has already shown that recruiters are taking notice. Rather than using social media just to engage with your audience and share newsworthy stories and open vacancies, leading recruitment agencies are proving their expertise by writing consistent and thought provoking blog pieces, producing podcasts and taking advantage of cost effective video marketing.
Interested in how your recruitment agency can implement video marketing? Take a read of our blog.
New Technology and Tools
Although recruiters are still focused on traditional methods such as business development, there is a noticeable desire for cost effective technology which makes candidate sourcing faster and more efficient. If the skills shortage remains, the streamlining mentality will continue to grow and, as the LinkedIn Global Recruitment & Staffing report shows, this reveals itself in many ways. If recruitment agencies had an unlimited budget for 2017, the investment would be allocated to increasing the agencies brand through more creative online marketing programs, better candidate sourcing tools and new technology / recruitment software.
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