The recruitment industry in Britain is big business, despite challenging economic times. The United Kingdom's 27 billion private recruitment and staffing industry has been affected by rising unemployment figures but there is still demand across the board for both temporary and permanent workers.
Research carried out by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation show that employers in Britain are placing importance on the use of agency workers in both their short and long term planning.
88% of employers surveyed indicated they would be either maintaining or increasing their use of temporary workers over the next quarter whilst one in three plan to retain or increase their long term use of agency staff.1
Management skills are top of the priority list when it comes to the capabilities that employers look for in permanent staff.
Organisations opting to manage their own recruitment processes are finding that high volumes of applications are having a negative impact. With more and more applicants vying for the same position, the recruitment process is becoming more time consuming, which can have a knock-on on bottom-line results.
Specific employment markets are so large that for a business to initially screen all applications for a position would be so time consuming it could result in lost business whilst the recruitment process occurs.
In this instance, the use of recruitment firms can save considerable time and using a firm to help source suitable staff is one of the most effective ways of finding the right people quickly, easily and effectively.
More and more employers are looking for external assistance to ease their plight and a recruitment firm can offer great benefits if you are looking to hire staff for short periods of time as well as seeking permanent staff members.
A recruitment firm can also provide you with benefits if they are expert in a particular industry or employee market. They may have specialised knowledge of where to find, and how to attract, employees with specific skills. If you are unable to attract the employees you want yourself, you may require the services of a recruitment agency that has good industry contacts and can source the appropriate staff you require.
For those seeking temporary members of staff, assessing and managing candidates for these positions involves a slightly different set of skills to those required for permanent recruitment and the help of recruitment agency can be very welcome here.
Permanent employees can also be sourced via recruitment agencies. Look for an agency that uses skills testing and other assessment tools which help to find a candidate with skills, competencies and motivations that match the position available and the organisation recruiting.
A good recruitment agency should know their markets well, so whether you need to fill accountancy jobs, have an administration position available or need to find a marketing professional, you should be able to find a suitable recruitment agency that will have accurate information about candidate availability, sourcing methods, salaries and benefits.
