3 Trends Affecting Recruitment Landscape 

Businesses are generally driven by one of two main factors: a vision for the future and external factors such as competition with other businesses. Whilst most industries combine these two factors to thrive, historically, the recruitment industry has evolved mainly through input from external factors and competition. This has also meant that to predict future trends, the recruitment industry must look to external factors to evolve and adapt. 

According to Ann Swain, the industry’s future will be shaped by a number of socioeconomic, political, and technological forces, the interplay of which will create the recruitment landscape, which are described as follows: 

Demographics 

For some years until now, the ageing population of the world caused by longer lifespans and lower birth rates has been predicted to affect the recruitment industry. Although skills shortages are generally a boon for recruiters, demographic predictions for the future are worrying. In 1960 there were 6.8 working-age adults to every over-65 year old, by 2010 the ratio is predicted to be 4.1, by 2020 3.1 and by 2030 there might only be 2.5 working-age adults to every over 65 year old. Demand for those of working age is set to increase dramatically and staffing issues will resonate across boardroom agendas.

See also: Hiring Guide for Employment Companies in Singapore: The Law

Legislation 

According to Swain, there will be notice from the section on legislative advances. In the recent past, the employment and recruitment legislative landscape has changed dramatically over the past 10 years across Europe, a trend that recruiter professionals might surmise is set to continue. New legislation has created an increase in the requirement for employers and users of flexible workers to capture, analyse and store more data about the recruitment process and indeed the applicant experiences. This has already affected the expectations of client organisations, and altered the relationship between customer and supplier. Often recruiters are taking much of the administrative and cost burden and it is likely that the demand for management information as part of a service offering will continue to increase.

Technology 

As in most business evolution, the biggest catalyst for change within the recruitment sector has been technology. There is no question that the use of databases and personal computers streamlined the saving and storage of information about available candidates and client relationship management, which is captured, and retained, at the touch of a button. E-mail has, without question, made life easier for recruiters, with near-instant access to candidate details, and clear postal routes to contacts and applicants alike. 

However, the over-reliance on email as an actual communication, or even sales, tool has negatively affected both the success and perceived value of recruitment consultancy. No written format, particularly one with abbreviated or poor use of English, can persuade the benefits of a particular candidate or specific role. Thus, Swain highlighted that professional recruiter’s communicate by telephone or on a face-to-face basis.

Likewise, as the Internet makes it easier for organisations to find potential candidates for roles, the perceived value of this aspect of an external recruiter’s role diminishes. Recruiters therefore need to provide a fuller service and added-value portfolio to boost the depth of the in-demand parts of what they do. Such services include:

• Candidate qualification. This involves identifying key competencies or skill sets from a potential applicant population. 

• Selection. Here recruiters offer a full range of selection procedures beyond usual interviewing, to provide clients with not only first-tier, but also second or even third-tier selection, including but not limited to: psychometric testing, competency-based interview techniques, assessment centres, role play scenarios, detailed reference and background checking, qualification validation and so on. 

• Offer management. This entails taking further control of the offer management, and even induction processes, to ensure lower levels of fall-out. 

• Managed service provision. Many organisations are attracted to the idea of outsourcing the responsibility of the full recruitment project life cycle to a recruitment company. 

With increasing numbers of employers limiting access to internet sites during office hours, mobile is likely to be the method of accessing career information privately or whilst on the move during the working day. Although seen as ‘almost there’ for some time, mobile technology is now at a point where handsets are becoming more capable, screen sizes are increasing and a good user experience can be produced. This technology was made for the recruitment sector.

Next read: Data-Driven Approach to Recruiting the Right Talents