Recruitment firms need to include IT spend for new services
in next year’s budgets in order to remain competitive in the marketplace
according to a leading expert on technology in the staffing sector.
Raymond Pennie, who is Commercial Director of IT outsourcing
specialists Kamanchi as well as Co-Chair of APSCo’s Technology Forum, says that
recruitment firms who fail to invest in the latest technology risk falling
behind their competitors as the war for talent heats up in 2010.
“This is the time of year when management teams set budgets
for the coming 12 months,” says Raymond. “Recruitment firms who fail to include
IT spend when putting together their figures run a real risk of falling behind
the competition as online services increasingly becomes the single most
important means of sourcing candidates.”
Social networking sites, CV databases and clients building
their own candidate networks are just some of the trends which Raymond sees in
the market which make it imperative for recruiters to have access to the latest
technology.
“Without a strong IT strategy recruitment firms will
struggle to make best use of the tools available to them. Those firms with the
most efficient systems will be best-placed to take advantage of the upturn when
it comes,” says Raymond. “It’s also important to remember that IT innovation
does not stand still. With an IT budget in place recruitment firms will be
ready to take up the next killer application when it hits the market.”
