Online recruitment set to increase

Four in 10 employers plan to increase their use of online recruitment over the next 12 months, exclusive research has revealed.

More than 40% of the 1,078 organisations surveyed by Cranfield School of Management, in association with Personnel Today, said they expected to advertise more jobs on external websites in the next 12 months.

And more than one-third (35%) anticipated that online recruitment would outstrip other recruitment methods over the next year, the latest Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI) showed.

Accessing a larger pool of candidates and cost efficiencies were the primary drivers for the surge, with 77% rating access to a larger pool of candidates as very important.

Shaun Tyson, director of the HR research centre at Cranfield School of Management, said the results indicated a major change in recruitment strategy. "The use of online recruitment has reached tipping point and many organisations use external websites as a marketing tool," he said.

The growth reflects the preferred method of looking for a job, with many jobseekers choosing to search online, Tyson said.

Staying ahead of competitors, speed and convenience were also considered to be factors behind the increase. But less than one-tenth of respondents expected to reduce their use of agencies and newspapers for recruitment advertising.