The Value of Recruitment Industry, Challenges, and Trends: Survey 

When it is time to change jobs, for whatever reason, there is a wealth of knowledge and expertise available within the recruitment industry for work seekers. The industry not only provides candidates with access to currently available roles, but also advice, process control and offer management that few individuals could dream of dealing with for themselves. The recruitment industry provides job seekers with opportunities that suit their needs at any specific time. 

The value of recruitment industry

Recruitment process basically means the process of searching new employees for respective organisations. This process is generally carried out by the human resource department, but companies often take help of recruiting agencies to spot and hire qualified candidates. The duty of external recruiters is to post new job openings, screening of candidates, and select and appoint the staff in various organisations. 

Based on Global Recruitment Market Trends, the global recruitment market was valued at US$215.68 Bn in 2017 and is predicted to reach more than US$334.28 Bn by the end of the forecasted period (2025). This expands at a moderate CAGR of 5.63 percent throughout the forecasted period. The global market for recruitment is also likely to exhibit the revenue growth by 1.5x between the period of 2017 and 2025. 

See also: 3 Trends Affecting Recruitment Landscape 

With the development of technology, the process of recruitment is also changing rapidly in the past few years. According to the Global Recruitment Market Trends report, there are three segments of the recruitment industry, including recruitment software, recruitment, and online recruitment. 

• Recruitment software is segmented into by type and by application. By type segment is further segmented into a job board, applicant tracking, and others. The application segment consists of large, medium, and small businesses. 

• Recruitment segment includes direct and 3rd party (HR company and directes based on by type segment) 

• Online recruitment is segmented into by type and by application segments. By type includes part-time online recruitment and permanent online recruitment. By application includes sales/marketing, secretarial/clerical, hotel/catering, etc. 

Future challenges 

Major Players survey revealed that there are at least five challenges faced by the recruitment industry. The top challenge is dominated by skills labour and talent shortage (29.1 percent), followed by new skills (19.7 percent), greater diversity and inclusion (19.4 percent), recruitment costs reduction (18.1 percent), and use of technology and AI (13.6 percent) respectively. 

Some companies are still very elitist in terms of the level of education they expect from candidates. Majority of employers will only consider candidates from certain universities with desirable degrees which might hamper diversity. For example, when recruiting, investment banks favour candidates who are a member of a rugby team, thus prioritising male candidates from higher socio-economic backgrounds. 

Additionally, the government is often the biggest employer in many countries. Historically the public sector has had its problems recruiting. Its generally lower pay rates, and its image as lacking the ‘cut and thrust’ of the commercial world, have created an under-supply of top-quality candidates in this sector. Recently investment in infrastructure has created more jobs, and the need to compete for the best candidates has driven pay and conditions upward. There has been a growth in specific recruitment companies specializing in recruiting for this sector. 

Conclusion

Recruitment agencies are great at helping companies improve their hiring process, finding top talents for vacant roles. Recruiters are also good at improving diversity and filling ‘difficult to fill’ positions. This is because they reach a wider pool of candidates that are open to various brands. However, there is a need for wider understanding for employers that diversified workforce are needed for diversified thinking within the workforce. 

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