{"id":61265,"date":"2018-10-17T10:43:43","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T09:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bullhorn.com\/uk\/?p=61265"},"modified":"2019-03-01T21:27:29","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T21:27:29","slug":"5-years-of-recruitment-trends-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bullhorn.com\/uk\/blog\/5-years-of-recruitment-trends-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Look Back to Look Forward: What Can We Learn From 5 Years of Recruitment Trends Data?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Ingham, our very own VP Sales, took to the stage at the Recruitment Agency Expo (RAE) Birmingham earlier this month to talk about the past five years of industry trends. Why dwell on the past? It\u2019s vital to look at the wealth of data collected in the <\/span>Annual UK Recruitment Trends Report<\/span><\/a> each year, to consider what lies ahead. From patterns in revenue growth to the <\/span>talent shortage<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>candidate engagement<\/span><\/a>, and investments in new technology, the reports provide us with over 200 pages of analysis and insight, surveyed from thousands of UK recruitment professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0Take the 2019 Recruitment Trends Survey<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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Recruiters Continue to Meet or Exceed Revenue Goals\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

The first key trend Andy identifies is revenue growth. Since 2014, recruitment agencies routinely met or exceeded revenue goals from the previous year.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The temp, contract, and perm placement agencies consistently expected to fare better than their counterparts in executive search. In the most recent survey, only 62 per cent of exec search agencies expected revenue to increase compared to 88 per cent of contract agencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast, we see that the number of agencies expecting revenue to increase in the following year gradually decreased from 92 per cent in 2013, to 86 per cent in 2015 and 2016, and ultimately 77 per cent in 2017. <\/span>But what could be inhibiting this growth? A number of factors are responsible, but the skilled talent shortage reigns supreme when it comes to top concerns recruitment agencies identify over the years.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Talent Shortage Consistently Concerns Recruitment Pros<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In every UK Recruitment Trends Report since 2014, the talent shortage is one of the topmost concerns for agencies. Despite falling to 64 per cent in 2015, the skill shortage affecting recruiters began to rise again to 79 per cent in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As Andy identifies, this is a pain shared by businesses and is one of the primary reasons they may turn to recruitment agencies in the first place. These persistent shortages provide yet another impetus to <\/span>engage passive candidates<\/span><\/a> and cultivate <\/span>a strong internal database<\/span><\/a>. Keeping candidate records up to date enables agencies to accurately evaluate the quality of their internal candidate pool. In fact, <\/span>GDPR<\/span><\/a> actively encouraged many of our clients to consider the information in their databases; Is it up to date? When was the last engagement? Is the information relevant?<\/span><\/p>\n

Questions to Ask Yourself About Candidate Engagement<\/b><\/h3>\n

Andy draws a comparison between candidates you\u2019re currently engaged with and those you\u2019ve yet to engage. For those that you\u2019re already engaged with, it\u2019s vital to provide a great candidate experience. One of the simplest ways to ensure this is to ensure your agency is well optimised on response time. ERE Media ranks \u201clack of feedback\u201d and \u201cnon returned calls\u201d among <\/span>the 4 biggest complaints candidate have about recruiters <\/span><\/a>— ultimately leading to an undesirable level of dissatisfaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the candidates you\u2019ve yet to engage, it\u2019s important to ask yourselves some key questions and take on the mindset of your target talent pools: Does your brand stand out? How do candidates prefer to communicate? Are you nurturing early candidate relationships?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Investing in New Technologies is On The Rise\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The final trend Andy draws our attention to is that of the increase in commitment from agencies to new technologies. In 2018, 52 per cent of respondents to the trends survey plan to boost their investment in technology, outweighing the 24 per cent that expected to increase their number of offices, and even fewer that expressed interest in acquisitions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Most specifically, investments in technology are focused toward:<\/span><\/p>\n