Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Recruitment & retentionYardstick Update

Employers seek to reduce recruitment costs

by Nadia Williams 3 Feb 2009
by Nadia Williams 3 Feb 2009

Employers are looking for ways to reduce their recruitment costs in the wake of the economic downturn, according to a recent survey by Personnel Today’s sister organisation, pay specialist IRS.


The survey of 143 employers – covering a combined workforce of almost 489,000 people – found that employers were typically reviewing four main areas of their recruitment procedures in an attempt to save cash, such as the use of advertising, deciding whether or not to fill certain vacancies, the cost of agency fees, and candidate selection procedures.


The areas receiving the most attention were found to be:




  • Finding alternatives to recruitment advertising (73.5%)


  • Reducing the use of agencies or other suppliers, or getting better value for money (71.3%)


  • Improving the cost effectiveness of recruitment advertising (71.3%)


  • Tackling recruitment budgets and staffing (58.1%)


  • Imposing recruitment delays and freezes (54.4%).

However, recruitment freezes – which have been imposed by 32% of employers – can have an adverse effect on staff morale, workloads and stress levels.


One business software company in the survey said: “Recruitment freezes always end up increasing recruitment expenditure in the end. As vacancies are taken off freeze at the same time, the recruitment team becomes over-stretched and has to rely heavily on agencies to fill vacancies quickly.”


In total, the survey identified 50 specific areas of recruitment practice that employers are reviewing in a bid to cut costs. But the three most effective ways of doing so were found to be reducing agency fees and charges, recruitment freezes, and closely reviewing all vacancies to ensure that only the key posts are filled.


The findings also showed that the average employer saved 10% to 25% on its recruitment expenditure in the past year as a result of their efforts.


In terms of perception, 11.8% said their cost-cutting initiatives had been very successful, while 54.4% believed they had been fairly successful. But 5.1% thought their efforts hadn’t made any difference, and 2.2% claimed they had actually been counter-productive.


Just over half the employers surveyed are expecting further spending cuts in the coming year, with the typical amount predicted to be between 25% and 50%.


For more information, go to


Most effective ways of reducing recruitment costs


 












































 Rank  Action taken

 1

 Changes to use of employment/recruitment agencies

 2

 Recruitment freezes

 Joint 3

 Ensuring only essential posts are filled joint

 Joint 3

 Shifting recruitment away from employment agencies towards online recruitment

 4

 Moving job advertising from printed publications to the internet

 Joint 5

 Appointing someone to manage recruitment

 Joint 5

 Greater use of internal recruitment among existing staff

 Joint 5

 Introducing an employee referral scheme

 Joint 5

 Reducing the size of printed advertisements

 Joint 6

 Improving an existing employee referral scheme

 Joint 6

 Introducing a software-based recruitment administration system

 Joint 6

 Making line managers accountable for recruitment spending

 7


 Making use/more use of JobcentrePlus


Source – IRS Employment Review

Avatar
Nadia Williams

previous post
Jobcentre jobs go to outsiders despite hints that staff facing axe could fill roles
next post
Team building: Personnel Today goes to Spy School

You may also like

Report recommends student loan-style scheme for pilot training

5 Jun 2023

Time-to-hire rates at an all-time high

2 Jun 2023

Leaked emails suggest RAF disadvantaged white male applicants

31 May 2023

How to attract and engage older workers (webinar)

30 May 2023

Retail headcount declines at fastest rate in 14...

26 May 2023

Pets at Home jobs boost with new stores

26 May 2023

Half of UK workers seeking a new job

24 May 2023

Met Police cyber unit hit by recruitment crisis

19 May 2023

Sharp fall in salary transparency in job ads

17 May 2023

Record number out of work due to long-term...

16 May 2023

  • The HR Bundle: Your one-stop guide to building a successful global HR Department PROMOTED | Get your hands on Deel’s free HR bundle...Read more
  • The Benefits of an Employee Assistance Programme PROMOTED | EAPs support employees in a range of ways...Read more
  • Intergenerational working and how to manage up and down the generations PROMOTED | The benefits and challenges of intergenerational workplaces...Read more
  • Bereavement in the workplace: How training can help HR get it right PROMOTED | HR professionals play an essential role...Read more
  • UK workforce mental wellbeing needs PROMOTED | The mental wellbeing support employers are providing misses the mark...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2023

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2023 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+