Today’s guest blogger is Liz Longman, the Managing Director of TEAM (The Employment Agents Movement). Liz has been involved in recruitment for over 20 years and previously headed up a region for a generalist agency before joining TEAM some eight years ago.

The TEAM network of agencies with over 400 locations and a combined turnover of approx £1 billion is the largest network of independent recruitment agents in the UK.  TEAM’s main ethos is to assist in the promotion and networking of business and innovations in the recruitment industry across its membership.  TEAM also has a growing number of international affiliates.

TEAM has just completed the round of first-quarter regional recruiter meetings across the UK for its members. Whilst many reported an improving market during 2013, there is now a unanimous show of hands for 2014 being set to be even better. Permanent vacancies are rising at their strongest rate for 4 years which is great news, but demand is far outstripping supply. Nil or sluggish growth on salaries have led to employees staying put and there is increasing evidence of the talent war as many sectors  are reporting difficulty sourcing appropriately skilled candidates.

However, there are signs that employees are gaining confidence in the upturn in the economy and are beginning to “spread their wings.” Those enlightened employers (or perhaps those that have listened to their recruiter!) who are prepared to offer improved remuneration rates are the ones that are currently snapping up the best choice of candidates.

The recruitment market is constantly shifting and good recruiters need to be nimble-footed and ahead of the game. This market calls for recruiters to perhaps spend more time with their clients explaining the dynamics of the recruitment world and how with a professional and well thought out campaign you can still secure the best available candidate for them. The recruiter also needs to acknowledge that the talent war will probably get worse before it gets better. Those quality candidates are the proverbial “hen’s teeth” so when you find them…use them. Even if you don’t have the ideal vacancy, there is a fair chance that another recruiting partner has…so get on that phone and network, network, network.

How are you winning the talent war?

At NPAworldwide we do a twice-annual survey of business conditions for global recruitment agencies. This survey was distributed to the active members of our network, representing more than 400 independent recruiting firms in more than 30 countries. Our member recruiters experienced an improvement in business conditions for their businesses in the last 6 months and are optimistic about the growth potential for the employment markets in the next 6 months. NPAworldwide’s global recruitment firm survey showed that 97% of those surveyed see conditions improving or remaining the same for their businesses over the next 180 days.  That is good news!

Some other results of this survey showed are:

• 53% of these independent recruiting firms reported improved conditions in the last 180 days, 23% indicated no change, and 23% reported worse conditions.
• 72% of our global recruitment agencies reported employment markets performing at or above expectations in the last 90 days.
• 37% of NPAworldwide’s respondents see their market getting more competitive.
• Only three percent of the respondents have a negative outlook for the next 6 months.
• 15% project fees to be below the levels realized in the prior 6 months.

This is good news for NPA members and perhaps the contingent recruiting industry in general. On a worldwide basis, it seems that conditions are improving and growing stronger.

The survey also identified “strong” and “weak” industries/segments of the employment markets. The most active markets identified by the survey of our global recruitment agencies were manufacturing/construction/mining and chemical process jobs. Weaker-performing segments were identified related to positions in the areas of accounting/financial services.

What is your outlook for the next 180 days?

If your client is reluctant to hire candidates from other countries, here are four reasons to help change their minds:

1. Consider the skills gap. Your clients want to hire the best candidates available, right? More and more, those candidates are not being found in the USA. Multiple studies points out that we are producing fewer college graduates in the critical STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) disciplines than are needed. Clients and recruiters alike bemoan the dearth of qualified candidates. Yet, few will consider hiring international candidates. It just doesn’t make sense. By opening the talent pool to a larger population of candidates, employers are more likely to find the right candidate for their job. Read the rest of this entry »