Online recruitment is doing well in Scotland and Ireland, though each is quite different. Specialists in these countries have told us how they see the big picture.
Craig Burns from Scottshjobsonthe.net says that it is no surprise that online recruitment in Scotland has a very regional bias, the main players having an indigenous corporate culture and methodology. He says: ìIn complete contrast in England, the market is dominated by national and international job boards. Nevertheless this 'Scottishness' is not a barrier to new entry as new job boards are gradually emerging.î Mark Smith, Managing Director of s1, believes: ìThe major recruitment and advertising agencies now recognise that Scotland is a very distinct market. Of course, media consumption habits in Scotland have always been different from other parts of the UK ñ newspapers being a good example. But if anything thatís even more apparent in online recruitment, primarily because of the success of s1jobs in becoming Scotlandís dedicated recruitment site. According to NORAS our nearest competitor, Monster, attracts less than half the Scottish audience of s1jobs, with 112,000 unique users in Scotland to our 303,000.î
According to Joe Slavin, CEO of fish4jobs, within Scotland alone there has been a significant growth in employment over the last six months. He says: ìThis is partly due to an influx in call centres opening in major cities around the country, opening up more opportunities for jobseekers. This increase in job vacancies has had a positive affect on the online recruitment industry, which can be seen by the 41% increase in candidates uploading their CVs to the fish4jobs site. The main growth in Scotland has been seen in the accountancy, science and pharmaceutical, customer services / call centres and driving and transport sectors. In particular, Perth, Paisley and Kilmarnoch are the areas that have witnessed the largest rise in online recruitment activity.î
Monster says that it also recognises that different regions in the UK have different skill requirements; for example Scotland is known to have a high demand for skilled telephone operators in customer service roles. It says that both Ireland and Scotland have a strong sense of national identity and their job seekers prefer to use and support local sources, so in order to ensure that job seekers in Ireland and Scotland are able to get that local touch and receive region specific information, monster has two separate websites. Monster also reports that industries showing the strongest growth in online recruitment activity in Scotland included healthcare, social work and personal care and marketing, PR and media and sales, as well as a lot of demand for roles within the energy market. The communities within the Monster site are able to feed into the needs of specific industry sectors within the region.
Benefits of online recruitment in Scotland and Ireland
Craig Burns says online benefits in Scotland, as in England are the same : ìThe recruiters have an increasing selection of boards to choose from (some offering free trials) as an alternative away from the traditional print advertising market which is on the decline. This then allows recruiters to plan more effectively their spend and seek value. The job seeker is also increasingly attracted to job seeking online, illustrated by the fact that it is amongst the fifth most popular internet activity and is more prosperous than going bust on a king. As online share increases a pivotal outcome may become apparent within the Scottish market. We could cite similarities to the airline market a la Freddy Laker. Online has very little overheads, thus the costs should find an equilibrium much lower than todayís market price. The independent job boards, with less economies of scale, should increase their market share as they do not have the demands of the boardroom and shareholders, thus providing an alternative to the status quo in Scotland.î
Monster agrees that the benefits for Scotland and Ireland are the same as those for all online users. Monster says their online recruitment service offers the benefits of a local service, with the international reach offered by a website and their postcode search tool enables candidates to select jobs in their own postcode or region, meaning companies can reach people looking for jobs near their homes in Scotland and Ireland as well as those looking to move into a specific area.
Future trends
Monster says that: ìIncreased broadband penetration across Scotland and Ireland has impacted the exponential growth of the online recruitment industry. The employers will always go where the jobseeker is and that is more and more online. The surprising thing is how much room for growth still remains in both markets. The recruitment industry holds the lionís share of the advertising industry and online recruitment currently only owns 17% of this market, so there is a long way to go.î
Regarding Scotland, Monster believes that the arrival of a new SNP government in Scotland heralds a new stage in Scotlandís history: ìA move to an independent government in Scotland and the resultant changes in policy over the next few years are likely to have an impact on the recruitment market. The new governmentís approach to the economy and its commitment to encouraging business and enterprise will create different challenges and we will have to wait to see how these pan out.î Joe Slavin feels that the online recruitment market for jobs in Scotland will continue to grow over the next couple of years. He says: ìLocal job opportunities can now be easily accessed nationwide and candidates are increasingly ready to relocate for the right job. In our experience, companies are gaining a greater understanding of using recruitment websites to search further afield for larger numbers of staff and this has encouraged investment into the online recruitment industry creating a win-win situation for employers and jobseekers.î
Efinancialcareers.com says that ëThe Celtic Tigerí phenomenon, or the dramatic growth in the Irish economy, has had a positive effect on the use of online recruitment in Ireland: ìFinancial services in particular, have benefited, as the Irish government has targeted fund administration and related services as a growth area. A 38% increase in jobs in financial services in just five years has led to a rapid increase in online recruitment, as companies search for good candidates. One particularly attractive feature for online recruitment in these markets is the ability of the internet to reach job seekers worldwide. So Celtic travellers ready to return home can scan the job market online whether theyíre in Alberta or Adelaide, without needing to see a newspaper or recruitment consultant.î 
Monster says that like Scotland, Ireland is also benefiting from a booming economy. Strong demand for online recruitment was reflected on Monster.ie, with job postings and job searches increasing by 6.7% and 19% respectively for March 2007 compared with activity in March 2006. It also feels that Ireland has a different need to Scotland as it has a bigger skills shortage, saying: ìThis is benefited by online recruitment, as many Polish immigrants (63,276 Poles living in Ireland - Ireland 2006 census) are able to gain employment in Ireland using online recruitment at home. Conversely when they decide to return home they can seek employment in Poland. If Ireland has a new government we will also see many policy changes and again these will no doubt affect recruitment. The Irish economy is expected to continue its growth over the next ten years with seekers demanding corresponding salary increases. Demand for skilled workers is likely to continue to grow which is great news for Irish job seekers and ex-patriots looking to return to Ireland.î
Efinancialcareers says: ìOne general trend in online recruitment is the initial use of generic job boards, following by moves to more focussed recruitment sites. This has already happened in England, and we have noted the trend has started to appear in Scotland and Ireland too. As market sophistication develops, specialist agencies develop and online only copy is produced, distinct from print job ads. Here, Scotland is still playing catch-up, whereas experts say Ireland is that bit savvier, if one can generalise so broadly. Perhaps if Scotland ever attains full independence and gains its own internet suffix equivalent to ëieí in Irish addresses, its own internet market would explode as searches could more easily specify financial jobs north of the border.î Whereas Monster predicts that: ìJust around the corner is a mobile solution which will allow Monster users to search for jobs in their local area using their mobile device, moving closer to providing the personalised service.î
It will be fascinating to compare and contrast how online recruitment continues to develop in the two countries in the future- watch this space!
Online recruitment is doing well in Scotland and Ireland - Online Recruitment Magazine Feature
Online recruitment is doing well in Scotland and Ireland, though each is quite different. Specialists in these countries have told us how they see the big picture
