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 more than 70% of light industrial contingent workers are working with more than one staffing firm at a time, 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.
Light industrial candidates most likely to turn to job boards
Light industrial workers are some of the most likely to be turning to online sources like LinkedIn or industry-specific job boards — especially those under the age of 30. Whereas fewer than half are working with staffing firms. 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, 51%, chose their current staffing firm based on positive experience, their own or someone else’s as reflected in ratings and reviews. This is an upward shift from last year’s 45%. Firms should make sure they are actively investing in reputation management solutions and continuously driving positive reviews, as well offering attractive incentives for referrals.
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 workers 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, workers overwhelmingly (66%) 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.
37% of workers expect to be placed in less than 10 days
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, especially since 29% of workers who gave up on using a recruiter did so because the process was taking too long.
63% of workers want to hear from recruiters at least once a week
Most workers report recruiters are communicating with them less than they would like. 63% want to hear from recruiters once a week or more, which only happens 59% of the time. This level of communication — especially tailored communication — is only possible with the right technology. The good news is 82% of light industrial contingent workers said they would be comfortable with AI handling communication and other recruitment tasks if it didn’t mean sacrificing personalization.
Workers are ready for AI
Overall, workers across age groups 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. And given how highly light industrial workers value quick placement, the time improvement will be crucial to convincing workers to embrace AI.
84% of workers are willing to work with AI if it gets them to work faster
62% of light industrial respondents were aware that their staffing firms are using AI as part of the recruitment process — the highest percentage of any industry. 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.
Workers are eager for AI to improve job fit and make administrative tasks easier
Workers are most comfortable with AI handling job fit, which aligns nicely with AI’s ability to learn from 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 nearly 2/3 workers are comfortable with AI handling the entire recruitment process.
Slow and complicated processes are the biggest pain point for workers
When asked about their satisfaction with various stages of the recruitment process, most workers 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 systems were too complicated. In fact, 22% of workers who stopped using a recruiter did so because the process was too complicated. All candidates, but especially light industrial workers, need to have the friction removed from the recruitment process so they can get to work and get paid as quickly and painlessly as possible.
75-85% of candidates are satisfied with their recruiting experience
Looking at all the stages of the recruitment process, most have 75-85% of workers 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 or down as demand changes.
When things go wrong, it’s because they take too long and are too complicated
Many of the breakdowns in worker satisfaction relate to speed — either recruiter response times or interview scheduling — or complexity. Particularly concerning is that 58% 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 this pain point. Dissatisfied workers often found systems to be difficult to access and navigate. These complaints speak to a need to optimize recruitment processes, something automation tools can handle.
Every stage of the recruitment cycle counts when it comes to worker loyalty
Even as the talent shortage may be easing, worker expectations have evolved over the last few years. Highly-skilled workers 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.
Nearly 90% of workers are loyal to firms that reach out more than once a week
When asked if they would be willing to work with a staffing firm again, workers who received the most outreach and attention from recruiters were the most likely to say yes. And candidate loyalty hits 87% when recruiters reach out to them with a new opportunity before their last assignment ends — compared to 62% 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 workers to keep up. This is true across all industries. Offering this kind of extra support and personalized opportunities correlates strongly with increased loyalty. That makes this strategy a double-win: firms keep more workers loyal while building the workforce their clients need for the future.
Worker loyalty depends on the entire recruitment process
When workers are satisfied with their experience, they can be almost 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, 85% of workers whose onboarding experience was automated would work with their firms again (as opposed to 57% if it wasn’t). 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, workers 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 job 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 workers are ready for AI to take a bigger role in recruitment, as long as the technology delivers.
