What a difference a year makes – what are recruiters thinking post-Brexit?

Each year, The Forum for In-House Recruitment Managers (the FIRM) conducts a survey among our members. This forms the basis of the FIRM Annual Membership Report.

I look forward to the Report every year – it’s an important snapshot of the recruitment industry and where it’s headed. It’s also a window into the minds of recruiters, providing a glimpse of their expectations and concerns for the year ahead.

This years survey has provided some interesting insights. In many ways, 2016 looks like being business as usual, yet a number of subtle developments caught my eye. Here are some of my key takeaways from this year’s report:

More vacancies… but less money

I found it interesting that, despite the political and economic upheaval of recent months, projected recruitment levels don’t appear to have dipped significantly since last year.

Half of respondents expected to see a positive increase in their organisation's hiring volume over the next 12 months, while 47% anticipated filling more than 500 vacancies – an increase of 3% over 2015.

Recent events do appear to be weighing on recruitment spending, however, with 53% of participants expecting their annual budget to fall under ￡500,000. This compares with just 40% in 2012, while budgets in the ￡2 million plus range have fallen by 4% since last year.

100% of respondents in the agricultural and property sectors reported budgets of under ￡250,000 – what implications could this mean for the housing market, I wonder?

Austerity over diversity? 

Worryingly, many organisations are looking to be cutting back expenditure in key areas – only 26% of respondents reported having a diversity recruitment programme in place, down from 33% in 2014.

I understand the pressure on employers to contain costs, but I feel that directing money away from diversity programmes is a risky strategy – countless studies have highlighted the financial benefits to organisations of having a diverse workforce. Last years FIRM awards showed some fantastic innovations in the D&I space with some real business benefits being achieved.

Digital is critical

It comes as no surprise that digital recruitment platforms now play a crucial role in modern recruitment strategies. However, it was fascinating although not surprising to see just how valuable a resource social media has become for FIRM members.

No less than 77% of survey participants selected LinkedIn among their top five sourcing channels, and only 4% of members aren’t using the site in some capacity. Twitter and Facebook are also being used by more than half of respondents.

Talking of digital progression, it was interesting to see video interviewing growing in popularity: nearly a third of recruiters (31%) now use it, compared with just 22% two years ago. 

Strategic Team Structures

I was also please to see that many members are being more strategic in how they structure their TA teams. 31% now have a separate sourcing function and 32% have a separate resource for employer branding (in comparison to 25% in 2015)

While 2016 has brought plenty of positive developments – not least recruiters continuing to embrace new technologies – there are signs that Brexit is starting to creep into peoples’ thoughts. Budgets and big picture issues aside, my main worry is that positive strides made during recent years – such as an increased focus on diversity – could end up being lost...

To access a copy of our report please click here