Are recruitment agencies expendable?

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Most people believe recruiters don’t have any positive input in the hiring process, according to new research*.Are recruitment agencies expendable?

The poll of more than 2,000 UK workers found that 56 per cent of people don’t think recruiters add anything to the process. In today’s hyper-competitive, digitalised world, having a defunct recruitment sector is simply not acceptable.

Reinforcing recruiter’s reputation for personal gain, the research found that over a third (38 per cent) of jobseekers don’t think recruiters have their best interest in mind, while a quarter (26 per cent) believe that recruiters suggest jobs that are clearly unsuitable. Only 12 per cent of respondents said that recruiters found jobs they couldn’t have done on their own, and a mere nine per cent said that recruiters offered helpful insights into the role or company.

The research also found that over half of millennials (52 per cent) plan to move jobs within two years, and over a third (34 per cent) within the next twelve months, a confession that is backed up by three in ten millennials having already held five or more jobs. With millennials preferring portfolio careers, the time to hire is an increasingly important factor for both parties. Indeed, a third of people reported to being put off moving jobs because of the time and effort involved. Recruiters are again perceived as not aiding speed, with nine per cent of people finding they actually slow the process down.

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Ben Chatfield, CEO and Co-Founder at Tempo, commented,

Today’s research confirms what we’ve suspected for some time – recruiter agencies are not only unnecessary but in many cases undermining. Their priority is the placement fee, rather than helping candidates or employers. Too often they deliver a service that falls far below the expectations, whilst charging substantial fees for the privilege,

Traditional recruitment behemoths aren’t reacting to the changes in the workplace or changes in the attitudes of those entering the workforce. It’s about time that companies had another viable option for hiring to get the best possible talent onboard.

To use the old adage, a business’s greatest asset is their employees. The fact that companies continue to use such a clearly out-dated recruitment system is absolutely mind-blowing. Not only does the traditional model not aid efficiency, it actively stops companies from scaling quickly and cost-effectively, and charges extortionate rates to do so. Their monopoly must end and soon, otherwise, businesses and employees will continue to suffer.

*from Tempo

Aphrodite is a creative writer and editor specialising in publishing and communications. She is passionate about undertaking projects in diverse sectors. She has written and edited copy for media as varied as social enterprise, art, fashion and education. She is at her most happy owning a project from its very conception, focusing on the client and project research in the first instance, and working closely with CEOs and Directors throughout the consultation process. Much of her work has focused on rebranding; messaging and tone of voice is one of her expertise, as is a distinctively unique writing style in my most of her creative projects. Her work is always driven by the versatility of language to galvanise image and to change perception, as it is by inspiring and being inspired by the wondrous diversity of people with whom paths she crosses cross!

Aphrodite has had a variety of high profile industry clients as a freelancer, and previously worked for a number of years as an Editor and Journalist for Prospects.ac.uk.

Aphrodite is also a professional painter.

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