Statistics ñ the growth of online recruitment

Statistics between 2003 and 2005 indicate the progressive adoption of online recruitment. For ease of review, the statistics have been divided into international research and local findings.



International research

What is online recruitment worth? Borrell Associates found that online recruitment advertising revenues hit $3.1 billion in 2003 and IDC forecasts that the world market will be worth $13 billion by 2005. Year on year the value of online recruitment is growing as both job seekers and recruitment agencies continue to adopt this method of recruitment.

Do companies use online recruitment? iLogos Research investigated the Global 500 companies with corporate Web sites and found that, in 1998, 29% recruited online (with 14% having no Web site) in comparison to 2003 where 94% of the Global 500 recruited online. This statistic is worth noting as adoption by leader companies tends to indicate a trend that filters through to the rest of the business world.

Internationally, are job seekers using online recruitment to find jobs? According to the UK National Online Recruitment Survey (Winter 2004), 45% of job seekers use the Internet as their preferred method of looking for a job, 75% have applied for a job online and 59% have obtained an interview as a result. 44% of these have actually obtained a job through the Internet.

Local trends

Are local career seekers using the Net to search for jobs? Local trends from CareerJunction between September 2003 and September 2004, show that over 1,5 million unique (new) careerseekers have searched for jobs on CareerJunctionís web site, with an average of 5,500 new resumes entered each month. There were 160,000 jobs advertised during the same period, generating over 700,000 online job applications. World Wide Worx research indicated that by the end of 2004, more than a quarter of all Internet users will be seeking jobs online.

The Sunday Times Business Times ëWork In Life Surveyí of September 2004 reported that 34% of respondents use online job sites to look for jobs, while 46% will go directly to a recruitment agency, 77% look for jobs in newspaper recruitment pages, 36% through trade and other magazines, 57% have found jobs through word of mouth and 33% approach companies directly.

Local findings indicate that while job seekers continue to use the Net, but this has not cut into the newspaper employment pages niche. Alliances between sites and newspapers have resulted in extended reach where companies and recruitment agencies still place ads in newspapers but give the Web address of a job advert rather than requiring an e-mail or written response.

What is the reaction of SA recruitment agencies to online recruitment? CareerJunction concluded a survey in March 2005, of just over 10% of the recruitment agents that use their Web site.. Part of the focus was on the relative importance of online recruitment as a medium for advertising job vacancies. The survey was conducted telephonically with a balanced mix of small, medium and large agencies.

Key findings show that the main reasons for agencies using online recruitment is they view it as the most effective medium (between 25-30% of respondents). The second highest rating indicated that they saw online recruitment as successful and targeted at their needs (also between 25-30%). The third highest factor was that online recruitment is seen as the most cost-effective medium (between 20-25%).

According to the respondents, online recruitment is used by agencies to equally search the resume database (between 40-50%) and place job ads (also between 40-50%)

Conclusion

Globally online recruitment has shown consistent growth, in terms of commercial value as well as adoption by job seekers and recruitment agencies. Companies are also beginning to use their Web sites as part of the solution to recruit staff. Local findings show that there has been a consistent and growing move to use online recruitment, one that echoes international trends. However, jobseekers are using all resources, including newspapers, rather than adopting one approach over another. South African recruitment agencies are finding online recruitment as the most effective approach to finding candidates, and one that is targeted to their needs and cost effective.