What can we expect to see from the recruitment industry in 2019? Part Two!

Mar 11, 2019 5:23:56 PM

In the last article on, ‘what we can expect to see from the recruitment industry in 2019?’, we explored the pending trends and issues of; candidate quality, Brexit, AI technology, EVP and video marketing. This is not to say they are the most crucial or top priorities, but they are the most discussed and predicted for the coming year. Recruitment is one of the most versatile, adaptive and controversial industries out there and no two companies are the same in their culture, style and approach to candidates and clients.

Are you putting aside a dedicated marketing budget for testing new technology?

With technology being a prominent discussion in what is to come for 2019, will your clients be setting aside a budget for new technology?

Particularly in the retail sector, 87% of marketers are creating a dedicated amount of their yearly budget for testing new programmes and systems. Depending on the size of the company, determines where this will be allocated with new tech, but with just 18% of small firms able to invest in this, compared to 38% of medium-sized organisation and 37% of larger companies making this a priority.

We can expect during the next five years for marketers to look at discovering new ways to ‘chat’ and connect on a more personal and direct level with their client base. However, we could start to see the integration of AI and chat bot technology with only 36% suggesting it will be humans doing the talking!

Who is brave enough to take the jump?

That horrible word of ‘uncertainty’ continues to rear its ugly head and its only natural for people to seek shelter and add security when this comes around. Unfortunately, we expect this to be true for 2019 and reflected within the recruitment sector. Due to global events, markets have been left in a precarious state and it’s becoming increasingly common for people to not budge when it comes to job moves. This would explain the lack of quality talent available to recruiters currently – they are all in hiding! It will be interesting to see if finding the right candidate continues to be difficult as the pool of available professionals shrinks.

Are school leavers going to be the next targets for recruiters?

A less obvious trend that is making its debut involves the role of school leavers in the recruitment industry. The current climate of the industry is not only convincing people to stay in their jobs, but also putting school leavers off going into further education due to the debt and need for jobs sooner.

Recruitment agencies may soon be making a space for targeting school leavers! It will give the benefit of (without a shadow of doubt) promotional paths previously reserved for graduates. Previously we have seen entry level events and promotional advertising targeted solely at graduates, but as the next generation of potential professionals comes to job hunting time, we can expect to see initiatives purely to get them on the career ladder.

“It is the interplay of these forces that has led us to propose these themes, but in reality, only time will tell how these forces will actually manifest.”

Mastering the customer experiences

All of us have experienced at some point in our lives the disappointing conversation of not getting the role we wanted. With sometimes thousands of applications for just one role, it is down to the recruiter to deliver the bad news. However, the delivery of this news is vital for the image of your company and yourself as a recruitment consultant. Increased customer-centricity is expected to become a huge part of recruitment in 2019, including multiple review platforms for each agency for them to properly improve and grow their service.

There is a lot of movement and changes to be seen in recruitment this year and it will be exciting to review the above and previous points when 2020 comes around. Will we see an increase in 5* customer service reviews? AI technology implemented in over 60% of recruitment agencies nationwide? School leavers becoming the number one target opportunity for progression plans and training as new consultants/roles? Or will Brexit turn everything on its head for better or worse?

What do you think?

Share your thoughts on this post - whether you agree, disagree or have your own insight to share, we want to hear from you!

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