subject: What Does 2011 Hold In Store For The Recruitment Industry? [print this page] With the year coming to an end it seems the perfect time to evaluate the state of the recruitment industry and hazard a careful guess as to what next year may hold.
2010 has been a year of change and concern on numerous fronts - with a new government coming to power and heavy spending cuts signalling the precarious state of the economy. These spending cuts have not only meant that public services have had to watch their budgets carefully - but that a large number of people within the public sector face redundancy. Allied with the reduction in lending to small businesses and the consequential bankruptcy of a large number or SMEs it is shocking but not surprising to hear that unemployment figures have raised to disconcertingly high levels. There is however a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, particularly as far as businesses are concerned. PwC have compiled data which points towards somewhere in the region of 28% of UK companies increasing their number of staff during 2011 as opposing to maintaining stationary levels as had been feared. This prediction is backed up by the revelations announced by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) that the number of job appointments soared last month - an indication that faith is returning to the job market, particularly within the private sector. This positivity is echoed by the increases in jobs placed on major UK job boards throughout November and December of this year. With claims that we are now out of the recession and rapidly growing employment rates - 2011 is beginning to look very bright.
In addition to growing confidence in recruitment for 2011 as a whole, seasonal factors also point to a very strong January for more dynamic recruitment organisations. Although many will dismiss their New Year's resolutions just as easily as they formulated them - many stick to their guns and genuinely try to make a change over the New Year. Pursuing a new career is a resolution for many and a consequence of this is a particularly strong start to the year for forward thinking online recruiters. Those with a transparent operations policy and client focus, are set to gain the business of more and more organisations who choose to utilise fixed fee recruitment services in order to get the best possible people for the best possible price during January and beyond.
The recruitment industry has taken a pretty severe hit this year and a number of organisations have not survived the downturn. Thankfully, those who have weathered the storm and are still going strong look set to reap the rewards for their endeavours in 2011.
