Recruiting and sourcing matters and matters now

James Casey Indigo Resourcing

Welcome to First Recruit our sourcing blog. I recently joined the Indigo team as the Principal Director for talent acquisition. As unemployment reached a staggering 6.7% last month, one small question you might be asking is “Who wants to talk about sourcing and recruiting during a recession?” Hmmm…good question.

It is undeniable. While some industries are thriving, most companies are feeling the crunch as budgets and departments get slashed and workers fear for their jobs. Recruiting is slowing down and in some cases even stopping all together. The number of job listings on the major job boards such as Monster has declined dramatically as well as traffic to corporate career sites.

Despite the bleak outlook, recruiting and sourcing is still a priority for many organisations. How do we know this? I can think of two good reasons. To start, organisations are still hiring. Starwood hotels is an example of one company that announced plans to hire hundreds of new employees next year throughout the UK. Amazon.com hired 400 employees this year in the UK alone including fulfilment specialists and customer service representatives. Education added over 19,000 jobs and healthcare increased by 134,000 jobs since January. Retail trade, tax accounting, and government jobs are also experiencing growth.

Some organizations are taking a different approach by slowing down their recruitment and re-organizing departments; downsizing one to create another. Qualcomm still plans to fill 700 positions, down from 3,000 last year, and will continue to focus on college recruiting. These organizations recognize that recruiters need to act as change agents within the organization by evaluating their current departmental needs and aligning their processes with the overall company strategy. Companies like Deloitte and Yahoo are looking internally at the number of recruiters, sourcers, contractors and third-party recruiters working within their organizations. Talent acquisition professionals are also helping their organizations re-evaluate new departments created in employee development such as coaching and internal mobility. The link between recruitment and retention is more important than ever.

The second reason recruiting and sourcing seems strong is because of the new crop of solution providers that has emerged over the past few months. Job Science, MyPerfectGig, and Fresho are some companies that offer recruiters new ways to view resumes, post jobs, and conduct interviews. These service providers hope to help companies tackle their most timely recruitment challenge…How can companies manage an influx of resumes and identify top talent when more and more unqualified candidates are applying for jobs?

To sum up, recruiting and sourcing matters and matters now. Be prepared, create your plan, strategize …the recession won’t last forever and May hiring is right around the corner.