Lack of relevant candidates already compromising work of some recruiters.

A lack of relevant candidates is reported to be impacting on the vast majority of recruiters’ work. CV-Library says a staggering 81.5 per cent of recruiters say their recruitment efforts are currently being compromised by a lack of suitable talent, although 85.4 per cent still feel confident about hiring in 2020. The figures come from CV-Library’s latest report based on a survey of over 300 recruitment professionals. The survey also found that nearly two-thirds (63.8 per cent) of recruiters plan on increasing their level of hiring in 2020, despite 61.9 per cent stating that their budgets will remain the same.

Alongside this, when asked what their top recruiting priorities are for the year ahead, respondents cited the following:

1. Attracting higher quality candidates (69.6 per cent)
2. Building talent pools for the future (35.6 per cent)
3. Targeting passive candidates (30.1 per cent)
4. Reducing cost per hire (29.4 per cent)
5. Reducing time to hire (28.8 per cent)

“We know that a number of factors have impacted hiring in recent months,” said Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library. “From the General Election, to ongoing economic uncertainty, good candidates have a choice and this means it’s harder to recruit than ever before. Despite this, recruiters are confident about their plans for 2020 and this is a positive update for the industry.

“Clearly, our findings suggest that the majority of recruiters plan on taking a more proactive approach to hiring in the year ahead; and this will be crucial if you are hoping to attract higher quality candidates to your jobs,” he added. “The fact that more recruiters want to focus on quality over quantity is a real step-change for an industry that tends to be numbers focused. But it definitely has the potential to help reduce cost and time to hire.”

What’s more, a staggering 91.3 per cent say that the quality of applicants will be more important than quantity this year. A further 78.6 per cent also say that candidates still hold the power in the current market, with 75.6 per cent feeling the pressure to focus on candidate experience when hiring.

Biggins continued: “Certain pressures are encouraging recruiters to think outside the box when hiring; whether that’s how they define what a qualified candidate looks like, or how they measure the success of their process. With this in mind, it’s important to think about your priorities for the year ahead and the tools you can maximise to help you reach your goals.”

Read CV-Library’s full ‘Recruitment trends for 2020’ report: https://www.cv-library.co.uk/recruitment-insight/recruitment-trends-2020/