If you track the future of recruitment and you do not know Bob Marshall, you should tune in. Bob’s site is www.themarshallplan.org; he is great at providing recruitment analytics and fact-based information on the current status of employment and how it will impact recruitment. Recently, Bob shared some new details in his newsletter regarding the strong positives for the 2015 recruitment forecast.
For global recruiters working the United States as a part of their market, the US GDP increased at an annual rate of 5.0% in the third quarter of 2014; that is an 11-year high water mark. So businesses are doing well and the impact on the search for talent and need for quality employees should have a direct impact on recruiters in 2015. While other global markets and regions are performing at different levels, it is rarely a bad thing to have the US economy doing well.
Another recruitment analytic to consider is regarding job growth. To a large extent, growth is coming from employers with fewer than 500 employees. Seventy-seven percent of US job growth is from small to mid-sized companies. For the average recruiter that is not a part of a large employment brand, this is great news. The future of recruitment should be strong for the small recruiter working with the small and mid-sized employers. So for contingent recruiters, if you have lost your focus on the smaller employers and are working on exclusively bigger employers, your need to consider a shift based on this recruitment analytic.
Finally, unemployment is quite low in the area where most contingent recruiters work: with degreed candidates. Unemployment is just 3.2% in the US for people with college degrees. That is quite low and as we are frequently told, full employment will never be 0%, so 3.2% is close to full employment. Needless to say when we are close to full employment, client companies will be more open to paying for the services of a recruiter. So the near-term future of recruitment looks quite positive in the US.
Get busy building a plan and working that plan. The recruitment forecast is for good times ahead!
This is great news! Here is to a great Recruiting year for all of us!
Indeed there has been a positive growth in recruiting in 2014 which is still the trend going into 2015. Things are definitely looking better for recruiters as well as job seekers.