Yesterday I read a very interesting, albeit slightly controversial article in Personnel Today, written by Peter Gold. Titled 'Recruitment Agencies: the fight for survival', in it he likens recruitment agencies to dinosaurs - in that they will have to move, adapt, or die (a great analogy, I have to say!) He even tagged the recruitment agencies as 'Agencysaurus', with the clever and smarter agencies being the same as 'Velociraptors' - mind you, I could actually name some recruitment companies who have been called that for years!!
It got me thinking. The recruitment industry is a huge £multi-billion monolith of an industry, that has been around for a good few years now. Things have changed hugely over the years, with the internet being the key driver, but as Peter predicts, the industry will have to evolve further again to survive.
So working on the 'Agencysaurus' them, who represents the part of the Tyrannosaurus Rex - the big daddies of the dinosaur world? (I know you will enlighten me with your opinion here!)
Taking it a stage further, who are the dinosaurs of the recruitment industry?
Would it be the likes of myself, Peter Gold or Keith Robinson with 20+ years in the industry? Or would the big job boards like Monster (aptly named), Jobserve or Jobsite qualify?
Could you even consider recruitment print advertising, to be on its way to extinction?
What do you think? Who, for you, represent the dinosaurs of the recruitment industry?
Let me get you started with one that is possibly extinct now. The Rolodex! Used by all of us recruiters in the early days, but quickly became surplus to requirements when the internet came along.
So what do you think? Who is heading for extinction?
