Industry Research Unit

The REC's Industry Research Unit was founded in 2005 to provide robust and objective information on all aspects of the recruitment industry.

The Unit works closely with stakeholder partners and sponsors to provide practical, low cost (or free) research that members can use to improve their planning and decision making, benchmark performance, access best practice and add real value to their client relationships.

We produce two monthly publications: JobsOutlook, sponsored by our Steering Group, provides insight into the short and medium term hiring intentions of employers for permanent appointments and temporary/contract assignments and Market>i which provides intelligent analysis of market activity and business results. Both monthly publications are available through our new 2+2 Bundle. In addition, the Unit has published over 50 reports that are available from our on-line bookshop with another 20 titles scheduled for launch this year.

If you have any questions about our research agenda you can refer to our 'frequently asked questions' page, email the research team (research@rec.uk.com) or call your Account Manager on 0207 009 2188.

How Our Research Is Used

At a national level, our research is used widely to support key lobbying positions, to help the industry to speak with real authority and clarity on issues that matter and to underpin the increasing professionalism of the industry.

Client Collatoral

REC research publications provide powerful new 'marketing' collatoral that can be used to add real value to client relationships. Much of our research, such as 'Recruitment 2020' and 'Productive Partnerships' is equally relevant to the HR and line management community and has been developed to facilitate dialogue between members and client organisations. For further ways to attract and retain clients you can read our new report on 'Adding Value' in recruitment. 

"Recruitment 2020 is a 'bible' for all resourcing teams ..... an invaluable reference document that we have used extensively to help develop our own global resourcing strategy."
Robert Jurgawka, Global Resourcing Director, Diageo

Benchmarking

The Unit has a strategic partnership with Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB), the market leading service that enables monthly benchmarking of recruitment performance across a range of 30 metrics.

Other research publications, such as our annual Salary and Benefits report, contain useful benchmarking data relating to salaries, benefits, satisfaction levels and staff turnover. Average values are provided for broad sectors, regions and job roles to allow more specific measurement.

Improved Planning and Decision Making

As the recruitment market moves into a period of rapid economic, socio-demographic, technological and legislative change it is vital that recruitment agencies have a robust business plan that ensures it has a unique, relevant and powerful proposition that it can articulate to clients.

REC research provides members with much of the information they need to produce a Business Plan that will give them real competitor advantage. Reports such as 'Recruitment 2020' and 'Technology 2020' identify the key drivers that will shape the recruitment landscape over the next 10 years, whilst our Sector Profile and Regional Profile report series capture and summarise a wealth of relevant research that can be easily applied to the planning process.

All our publications are designed to give members accurate information and practical advice on all aspects of recruitment that they can use to inform their decision-making.

Access to Best Practice

The Industry Research Unit is committed to supporting increased professionalism across the recruitment industry. As part of this commitment, its agenda includes research that is specifically designed to capture and share best (and next) practice.

Examples include:

'Riding the Recession' - a 2009 report based on detailed interviews with some of the Industry's most experienced recruiters who have survived and prospered in previous economic downturns.

'Seven Secrets of Successful Recruiters' applied a similar approach, this time assessing the habits of recruitment consultants that consistently billed significantly more than their peer group.

'Productive Partnerships', produced with CIPD, identified a new best practice framework and practical advice on how agencies and employers can best work together to achieve effective, long-term relationships. 

If you have a specific enquiry about the recruitment industry or have a suggestion for future research, please contact us on research@rec.uk.com