As we close the book on a successful 2017, CSG takes a look at the forecast for recruitment in 2018: which upcoming trends and changes will be making an impact on the recruitment industry this year?
The Emphasis on Working Culture
One rising business trend is the investment in culture fit. There is a large shift occurring around businesses that are now starting to invest more into the culture they create for both current and potential employees.
The importance of cultural fit in a business is going to continue to increase in 2018 as not only are businesses focussing on this but so are candidates. Candidates are increasingly making career decisions based on their fit within the culture – a reason more and more job offers are being turned down.
A new wave of office trends has emerged from this, workplace wellness being a key example, with companies implementing extended lunches for exercise and cycle to work schemes; the value on culture fit has never been higher. Factoring culture into your hiring strategy should be a high priority for 2018 as candidates are focussing more on the cultural element. Even for yourself, aligning cultures within your business is key for employee retention.
Simplifying the Recruitment Process Through Technology
Streamlining your recruitment process is fundamental in getting ahead of the competition in 2018, with recruitment technology constantly advancing. Indeed, Linkedin and Monster are some of the job boards who are utilising ‘one click applies’ which allows candidates to apply for a job easily on the move with just one click, saving you the hassle of inputting information and uploading your CV time and time again.
Gone are the days of waiting weeks to hear back about a prospective job. If your business wants to gain the best talent, embracing an effective technology platform is the way forward; responding to candidates swiftly can prevent them taking a counter offer. One way the recruitment process can be streamlined is through the use of automation technology. Examples include instant and delayed responses and, going one step further, the automated scoring of candidates based on application questions and skills. Embracing such practises makes the recruitment process shorter and the response rate to candidates much faster. This not only improves the experience for the candidate, but in doing so, also improves the reputation of your business. Additionally, by reducing the length of the recruitment process the whole process becomes shorter and easier to manage for recruitment consultants, freeing them up to focus on other proactive searches.
Centralising the recruitment process is essential for any recruitment department wanting to build a healthy talent pool. With an easy to track audit trial of candidates’ interactions this is going to be increasing important with the rollout of GDPR in May.
The Changing Landscape of Social Media
LinkedIn has always been a leader in the proactive approach for candidates, and it still will be in 2018. However, with that said, there are improvements occurring in other social media platforms which will start to challenge LinkedIn for job seeker traffic.
Social media is an area that can cause issues for candidates if used unwisely, however if utilised correctly, be a real asset. As always, social media is ever evolving, so it is worth keeping an eye on platforms like Facebook who have been testing a new jobs feature which lets you make a separate job seeker profile. Utilising social media such as Facebook for your business is a great way to attract talent to your careers site. With Facebook ads having a potential audience of more than 1.2 billion everyday and automated responses through Messenger is also a great way to reach a passive audience of job seekers.
Changes to Come in 2018
What does this all mean for the overall recruitment outlook in 2018? A recent survey by Indeed has found that hiring will continue to increase.
Key Things to Look Out for Throughout 2018
GDPR
GDPR is a hot topic for every industry, recruitment being no different. A wealth of information exists outlining how GDPR is going to impact businesses: GDPR means stricter controls on how data is processed and controlled data. It will change the way recruiters collect and use data.
Failing to comply with GDPR can result in massive fines - up to 4% of your business’s revenue or €20 million; therefore ensuring that your business is GDPR compliant has never been more important.
Contracting
Temporary recruitment is on the rise across all industries, especially within IT and Engineering and Construction. The gig economy is drastically increasing in prominence, and the amount of contract recruitment businesses is expected to grow from 15% in 2017 to 17% in 2018.
CSG have identified this mass market and have recently acquired contract business CRE: Contract Recruitment Experts. CRE specialise in placing temporary staff across several major sectors, including Engineering & Construction, IT, Consumer, Energy, Transportation and Interim C-level.
Artificial Intelligence
Making an emergence in 2018 in relation to new digital technology within recruitment is the use of algorithms, in place of traditional sorting of resumes and CVs. AI recruitment technology such as Arya can deliver automated candidate searches and identify the best quality candidates unbiasedly based on the skills they hold compared to the brief set out. Similar to the benefits of automation, Algorithms / AI is said to revolutionise the recruitment industry by streamlining the process, taking up less of the consultant’s time and also ensuring the best talent is taken through to the next stage of the progress.
As always we would love to hear from you, on the changes have you seen in 2017 in your market and what recruitment trends you foresee in 2018. CSG are committed to ensuring we source and place the best talent in your market and find the best fit for your business’s needs. If you are looking to make a change in 2018, CSG have specialist consultants across 7 different industries with proven track records. To find out more about how we can help you, visit our website at www.csgtalent.com or call on +44 (0) 333 323 2000.
References
https://www.advance.online/2017/12/contract-recruitment-growth-2018/
http://blog.indeed.com/2017/11/27/employer-outlook-2018-survey/
