Eighty-four Per Cent of APAC Agencies Plan to Expand in 2015

8 April 2015, Sydney – Eighty-six per cent of APAC recruitment agencies expect to increase revenue in 2015, including 93 per cent of agencies specialising in contract recruitment, according to Bullhorn, the leading cloud-based CRM provider.

Released today, The Bullhorn 2015 Australian Recruitment Trends Report also reveals that 64 per cent of agencies with 75 or more employees plan to open new offices in 2015.

Peter Markland, Bullhorn’s APAC regional director, comments: “It’s great to see the APAC recruitment industry putting in place such ambitious plans to counteract the threat of clients reverting to in-house hiring methods. More agencies plan to increase headcount, branch expansion plans are firmly in place, and more agencies than ever will adopt vendor management systems this year. And at Bullhorn, we are well positioned to facilitate this growth across the industry.”

Key findings:

• Expansion plans in place: 30 per cent of agencies plan to expand into new offices, while 16 per cent plan to open a new branch in a different country this year.
• Consistent fill rates and hit rates: The average fill rate across all respondents in 2014 was 47 per cent, while the average hit rate recorded was 40 per cent. However, respondents placing candidates in government jobs had both the lowest fill rate (35 per cent) and lowest hit rate (33 per cent) among all industries.
• VMS use to double: only 13 per cent of respondents drove more than half of their jobs through VMS in 2014, whereas 28 per cent of respondents plan to do so in 2015.
• Skills shortage still a major concern: 71 per cent of respondents reported a skills shortage in the industries for which they recruited in 2014 (less than reported in both the UK and U.S.).
• Healthcare industry suffering: 70 per cent of APAC respondents recruiting for the healthcare industry have experienced difficulty in finding talent to work aged care jobs. Eighty per cent of respondents in the healthcare industry support an increase in immigration in order to provide Australia with more potential candidates for aged care positions.
• Referrals and CRM: The top two sources for qualified candidates in 2014, as ranked by APAC respondents, were referrals from successful placements and existing candidates from recruitment CRMs.
• Remuneration expectations high: 81 per cent of respondents anticipate a pay increase in 2015.

The Bullhorn 2015 Australian Recruitment Trends Report also draws comparisons to recruitment performance in the United States and the United Kingdom – to download the report for free, please click here.