Last year I asked for your assistance in a brief survey. It was obviously related to the credit crunch / recession / downturn (delete as appropriate!!) and how it was starting to effect companies recruitment strategies going forward.
I was getting certain feedback from my clients with regards to recruitment, and whether they were putting everything on hold or were actually still recruiting, and wanted to know if everyone else was getting the same.
Yes, there is bad news everywhere with big job losses, that seem to be a common source of news for the doom and gloom merchants in the media!! Even the Government have become a cog in the doom machine with their shocking approach to the current job losses!!
Wasn't it great to see space aliens taking the news headlines just for one day yesterday - it did make a change!!
So the results of the survey - What did you think are causing companies the most pain with regards to recruitment at the moment?
- Recruiting with a reduced budget ----------------------- 56.76% - (42)
- Demotivation in the workforce ---------------------------- 35.14% - (26)
- There is no recruitment due to redundancies ------- 35.14% - (26)
- Recruitment agencies are too expensive to use ----31.08% - (23)
- Still can't find the skills needed----------------------------28.38% - (21)
- Inundated with speculative job seekers-----------------27.01% - (20)
- Not enough recruitment expertise------------------------16.22% - (12)
- Higher instances of sick leave------------------------------9.50% - (7)
- Recruiting with no recruitment budget-------------------8.11% - (6)
- Staff are leaving for better salaries elsewhere----------8.11% - (6)
Total responses - 74
I know it is only a very small survey, but the top answer does echo feedback I am getting from clients - many are still recruiting, but they are are having to be very careful with their recruiting budgets.
So the message from my "important" survey is clear - don't believe the hype and the bad news, companies are still recruiting out there. Yes they may have less money to spend on recruitment, yes they will want value for their money and yes, they may well do some of the recruitment themselves.
BUT there is still a market out there - companies are still recruiting, so all you recruiters - corporate and agency - don't give up just yet!! And for all you companies out there, who have had their budgets cut, start to think about your recruitment a little better - there are ways that you can still recruit cost effectively!!
