10 recruitment trends I predicted in 2010. A decade later, how foolish do I look?

A decade ago I was honoured to present a keynote address to the RCSA National Conference in Hobart. (The original here. August 2010)

In that speech, I laid out 10 trends that I believed would impact the recruiting profession, and which I predicted we needed to factor into our strategies and business planning. Ten years later, how do those predictions stack up? Remember, what might seem obvious now, was not so apparent in 2010.

You be the judge.

(However I have made brief comment in italics after each prediction, written this week, giving my assessment 🙂

1. Expectations of clients are rising and will continue to rise. Clients want insights, not just résumés. They want better service. They want specialist level consulting advice. And they want it faster and globally. (YES. Definitely)
2. Clients and talent are savvier, more discerning, and more sensitive to quality. Right now, publicly listed recruiters are reporting rising revenues and profits. But at the same time, we see increasing numbers of small recruiters going into liquidation. Big firm or smaller player, clients will not accept the second rate, the cumbersome or the old-fashioned. (YES, mostly true, despite a booming market. Several PLCs have gone under too))
3. Employers will continue to aggressively build their in-house capacity to recruit staff.  Clients will develop corporate in-house recruitment teams, build recruitment technology, enhance employer branding, and use social media. And all of these will be used to cut recruiters out of the process. It’s a major issue for our industry and we have to offer something measurably different to be seen to be providing value.(YES 100%)
4. An increasing majority of vacant jobs will not be advertised anywhere. Forget web advertising vs. print media. More and more jobs just won’t get announced at all. Networking, social media, and skilled, specialised recruiters will fill most jobs before they ever hit the mainstream media. That has huge implications for us in the way we develop business, access talent and make the match. And also for the skill-set of our recruiting staff. (Hmm YES and NO)
5. Talent will become smarter and wiser to the way our industry works. They will be far more discerning about the recruiter they work with. They will take charge of their job search and of their employee brand. Technology has made things so much more transparent for job seekers and the pathway for them to connect with employers is now wide open, potentially leaving third-party recruiters out in the cold. This raises massive questions around the way we engage with candidates and our entire talent acquisition strategies. (YES, for sure)
6. Reputation and Brand – of recruiters – will become our most valuable asset. And we will not be able to influence brand via traditional PR and media anymore, because social media is so viral, so transparent and so powerful, that your business can be destroyed or made by it at lightning speed. Our brands are being defined by the voices of strangers. ( YES, maybe not our most valuable asset, but hugely important and increasingly so)
7. Referrals will become the primary sourcing channel for all levels of positions. Not print, not job boards – but word of mouth, reputation, networking and referral programs. (NO not ‘primary source” but certainly job boards are on the wane)
8. Customers’ loyalty will become key. And by customers, I mean both clients and talent. Churn and burn will not work. We need to retain what we have, and develop it intelligently and consistently. (YES but it was a kind of wishy-washy prediction in hindsight TBH)
9. On top of all this, there will be increasing pressure on price. Clients will not pay the same for what they used to get. (YES)
10. To sum it all up, yesterday’s “delivery” market will become tomorrow’s relationship market with both clients and talent. (YES/NO. The market has split into transactional and high value. This will continue I believe)

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