Introduction
What does it take to produce a satisfied, loyal talent community? Speed and accuracy in search and match, and clear, timely communication top the list. We surveyed more than 2,400 global contingent workers on their experiences working with staffing and recruitment firms in 2024 to produce this year’s GRID Talent Trends Report.
Overall, the news is good. 75% of contingent workers would work with their staffing firms again — up from 68% last year. However, 58% of respondents intend to leave the contingent workforce for full-time employment in the next year, even as many employers rely on the flexibility and scalability of contingent employees. This highlights the need for staffing firms to make the talent experience as simple, personalized, and attractive as possible to keep highly-skilled candidates in their talent pool. Read on to learn more about the insights from the GRID 2024 Talent Trends Report.
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What do candidates really want from staffing firms?
Staffing firms in general face stiff competition from online job boards and gig platforms. They need to convince candidates upfront that they can offer real, tangible value, and that they can offer the ease-of-use available through other job search resources. And nearly two-thirds of those candidates who do work with staffing firms are typically working with more than one, so it is crucial for firms to differentiate from their direct and indirect competitors. Job matching and recommendations are top priorities for candidates, with a strong emphasis on speed at every stage. With that in mind, staffing firms need to do everything possible to enhance their sourcing services
Job boards are beating agencies for first touch
Commercial and professional candidates are the most likely to use staffing firms, with 49% making it their go-to resource. That falls to 38% for healthcare candidates. Most candidates are starting with sources like LinkedIn or industry-specific job boards. In order to compete, firms will need to provide the easy, 24-7 experience of job boards — combined with the expertise and human touch of a recruiter relationship.
Positive past experience matters to candidates
More than half of candidates, 53%, chose their current staffing firm based on positive experience, their own or someone else’s as reflected in ratings and reviews. This is a shift from last year’s 44%. Firms should make sure they are actively investing in reputation management solutions and continuously driving positive reviews.
Recruiter sourcing and screening is a comparative advantage over job boards
When asked to rank the greatest value offered by recruiters, it was clear what candidates want most is the right jobs served up to them quickly. And when asked a related question about what they expect staffing firms to handle for them, candidates overwhelmingly (nearly 70%) say finding and recommending appropriate job postings. Nailing sourcing and screening remains the comparative advantage that staffing firms have over job boards, and specialized expertise is what helps firms differentiate from their competition.
80% of candidates expect to be placed in less than 20 days
And this is largely true across industries and age groups. Firms should be looking for ways to streamline the process, arming their recruiters with technology to make job matching faster and more accurate to retain and redeploy talent.
79% of candidates would let AI handle communication if it didn’t sacrifice personalization
Most candidates report recruiters are communicating with them less than they would like. 65% want to hear from recruiters once a week or more, which only happens 57% of the time. This level of communication — especially tailored communication — is only possible with the right technology. The good news is 79% of candidates said they would be comfortable with AI handling communication and other recruitment tasks if it didn’t mean sacrificing personalization.
Candidates are ready for AI
Overall, candidates across age groups and industries are comfortable working with AI-powered tools at pretty much all stages of the recruitment process — as long as they deliver results. That means better job matching, faster placements, and timely and clear communication — and all still tailored to the individual candidate. An AI-powered sea change is coming in the staffing industry, and firms have a crucial, time-limited opportunity to demonstrate the value to candidates.
81% of candidates are willing to work with AI if it gets them to work faster
55% of survey respondents were aware that their staffing firms are using AI as part of the recruitment process. For those candidates, the experience has been largely positive. Most frequently, candidates noticed faster response time when working with AI — and timely communication drives candidate loyalty.
Candidates are eager for AI to improve job fit and make administrative tasks easier
Candidates are most comfortable with AI handling job fit — a savvy perspective given how well AI can be trained on a vast quantity of past recruitment data to predict the best job matches. They are also very comfortable with AI handling cumbersome administrative tasks like onboarding paperwork, time tracking, and compliance forms. These results suggest that over 60% of candidates are comfortable with AI handling the entire recruitment process.
Lack of speed and communication are where the recruiting process falls short for candidates
When asked about their satisfaction with various stages of the recruitment process, most candidates are satisfied, but there remains room for improvement. And those who are not satisfied, it was largely because the process was too slow, the job fit wasn’t right, or the administrative tasks were too cumbersome.
75-80% of candidates are satisfied with their recruiting experience
Looking at all the stages of the recruitment process, most have 75-80% of candidates saying they are satisfied or very satisfied with the experience. Today, that level of satisfaction is achieved with a fair amount of manual work. AI can enable firms to maintain or improve on these numbers while still freeing recruiters up to focus on higher-value work that requires a human touch. And firms will be able to quickly and efficiently scale up when an economic recovery comes.
When things go wrong, it’s because they take too long and are too complicated
Many of the breakdowns in candidate satisfaction relate to lack of speed, overly complicated workflows, and poor job fit, and almost always come in the pre-placement phase. And they all speak to a need to optimize recruitment processes. A plurality of dissatisfied candidates felt recruiters were too slow (44%), the application process was too long (45%), and forms were too complicated (46%). Particularly concerning is that 56% of dissatisfied candidates thought their recruiters didn’t understand what they were looking for in a job. Really leveling up sourcing and screening, potentially with AI, can address all of these pain points.
Every stage of the recruitment cycle counts when it comes to candidate loyalty
Even as the talent shortage may be easing, candidate expectations have evolved over the last few years. Highly-skilled candidates remain in demand and they are choosing to work with firms that communicate frequently and clearly, offer them the resources they need to enhance their careers, and make every stage of the recruitment process as easy as possible.
Candidates want communication at least once a week
When asked if they would be willing to work with a staffing firm again, candidates who received the most outreach and attention from recruiters were the most likely to say yes. And candidate loyalty hits 85% when recruiters reach out to them with a new opportunity before their last assignment ends — compared to 58% when they don’t. Technology makes it possible for recruiters to meet this goal, which is why Bullhorn sees a 53% increase in redeployment rates for staffing firms who automate their processes, and AI will only increase those improvements.
Helping candidates build their career skills breeds loyalty
With marketable skills changing ever more quickly, it is hard for candidates to keep up. This is true across all industries. Offering this kind of extra support and personalized opportunities correlates strongly with increased candidate loyalty. That makes this strategy a double-win: firms keep more candidates loyal while building the workforce their clients need for the future.
Candidate loyalty depends on the entire recruitment process
When candidates are satisfied with their experience, they can be twice as likely to go back to the same firm again and again. As outlined above, satisfaction requires speed, ease, and accuracy — most likely fueled by technology. For example, 81% of candidates whose onboarding experience was automated would work with their firms again. The point is clear, firms really have to nail all the stages, but the good news is that every positive experience breeds loyalty.
Conclusion
Overall, candidates are pretty clear about what they expect from recruiters and their firms: timely placement in the right job, clear communication, and technology that makes the process run smoothly. AI can enhance candidate matching, streamline screening, and make administrative tasks simpler — freeing recruiters up to focus on the human aspects of recruiting like reskilling and candidate/client engagement. And candidates are ready for AI to take a bigger role in recruitment, as long as the technology delivers. Learn more about what recruitment will look like with AI infused everywhere.
