In 2014, APSCo reported that the Global Recruitment Market was worth €345 billion, an increase of €14 billion. Consequently, many sceptics raised concerns over whether it was possible for the recruitment sector to continue, or even maintain, this growth into 2015. The latest results from APSCo show that there was no need to fear as the sector looks to be on track for another outstanding year.
With growth in all segments of the market strong, the future continues to look bright for recruitment agencies. However, this will only be true if the sector manages to resolve the following key challenges that have once again blighted the landscape:-
62% of firms cite ‘growing headcount’ as their greatest challenge in the year to come and 31% declare retaining talent to be the key test. With increasing competition in the market, retaining and recruiting quality employees once again looks to be a major barrier to growth, and is becoming a major concern for all businesses, not just recruitment agencies. Furthermore, with agencies acknowledging that the training and development of their employees is an important factor in securing growth, having quality employees to train and invest in is of paramount importance.
Training was chosen above technology and expansion as the most important factor for growth, clearly showing the value and power that employees now have. Employees are the bedrock of all companies. Therefore, to help retain and recruit them they are expecting more. It was not so long ago that employees were only interested in financial benefits and increasing their salary; however, now they want non-salary benefits too. The UK Recruitment Index highlights the top eight most popular non-salary benefits offered by recruitment agencies:
- Prizes 18%
- Lunches 15%
- Private Health 15%
- Trips 15%
- Flexible Working 12%
- Share Schemes 8%
- Car Schemes 6%
- Gym/ Health Club Memberships 6%
Check out the key findings from the report here.