More than 60% of employers plan to increase the use of corporate websites as a recruitment tool in the coming year, according to research by Cranfield School of Management in association with Personnel Today.
Three-quarters (74%) of the 1,078 organisations surveyed for the latest Recruitment Confidence Index said they planned to grow web-based recruitment through their corporate website over the next five years.
Commercial websites also featured highly on the agenda. About 44% of employers expected to advertise more jobs on external websites over the next year, and almost half (48%) predicted an increase over the next five years.
Almost half (49%) also reported a rise in the use of corporate websites for recruitment last year, and 42% noted an increase in commercial websites.
Only 1% predicted a decline in the use of corporate websites in the next five years, and just 6% anticipated a drop in commercial websites.
…and the cost of corporate sites is the leading driver…
Cutting costs was the main reason for using corporate websites, with half of employers citing it as a ‘very important’ factor for their online recruitment.
Gaining access to a larger pool of candidates was the main driver for using external websites, cited by 44% of respondents to the Recruitment Confidence Index as a very important factor.
One third of respondents said the ease of use for candidates was a very important reason for using corporate websites, while 28% cited ease of use for themselves as a determining factor in choosing this recruitment method.
Almost a third of candidates (32%) said having access to a larger candidate pool was a major factor.
Speed (26%) and keeping ahead of the competition (24%) were also seen as deciding factors when using corporate websites for their recruitment.
However, only 5% of organisations reported that company policy was a major consideration when deciding to use commercial websites.
…but non-electronic recruitment is set to remain relatively stable
Surprisingly, the surge in online recruitment is not anticipated to have a massive detrimental effect on other recruitment methods, according to the research.
Less than 10% of Recruitment Confidence Index respondents expected to reduce their use of regional newspapers for recruitment advertising, and just 7% predicted a decrease in their use of professional magazine advertising.
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Just 5% of respondents expected to reduce their use of national newspapers as a recruitment method, and only 6% said they had already done so.
It was good news for recruitment professionals too, with organisations only anticipating a small decline in the use of executive search (5%), employment agencies (9%) or selection consultants (3%).
