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The REC was invited to take part in the American Staffing Association conference which took place in San Diego last week and which this year ran in parallel to the annual CIETT conference.  The event provided an update on global recruitment trends many of which are directly relevant for the industry in the UK. 

The REC’s Director of Marketing and Member Representation, Anita Holbrow was invited to lead a session on key changes to the world of work and the implications for the recruitment industry across the world.  The session showcased some of the key findings from the REC’s Future of Employment Working Group (FEWG) which is made up of leading employers across a number of sectors.  The official findings from the FEWG will be formally launched at the REC’s Agency Summit event on November 27th

Underlining the significance of the REC’s input into the San Diego conference Anita Holbrow said;

“Being invited onto the platform of such a high profile global event provides recognition for the work of the REC in leading the debate on how the changing world of work can provide real opportunities for the recruitment industry not only in the UK but across the world.  Identifying some of the key trends in employment will enable agencies to repackage service offerings to meet the changing needs of employers and jobseekers.  The employment landscape is changing and we were delighted with this opportunity to share views on what this means for the recruitment industry.”

Other key themes during the ASA and CIETT conference included procurement policy, new technology, changes in how employers are using and evaluating the performance of recruitment providers, measures that agencies are taking to weather the current economic storm and sector specific information in areas such as IT, Healthcare and executive search. 

Commenting on the conference as a whole, REC’s Director of External Relations, Tom Hadley said;

“The recruitment industry across the world faces a number of challenges – for example, demonstrating real added value to both HR and procurement and ensuring that we are at the top table in order to influence public policy debates that impact directly and indirectly on the industry.  Within this context, the need for the industry to have a strong collective voice on a national, regional and global level is more important than ever.  Facilitating exchanges between recruitment businesses and recruitment federations is an important part of driving the industry forward across the world”.

For more detailed feedback on the ASA/CIETT conference, please email Jason.clayton@rec.uk.com for a summary. Some of the key messages to emerge from the conference in San Diego included:

• Recruitment agencies have an increasingly important role to play in creating high performance and diverse teams within companies in order to generate the type of innovation that employers are seeking in order to remain competitive.
• The pace of change within leading organisations is accelerating.  The recruitment industry needs to mirror this pace of change
• The changing attitude of workers (the so-called ‘Y generation’) has real implications for employers and agencies.  In particular, this impacts on what workers are looking to get out of their jobs and highlights the need for businesses to build strong a employer brand.
• More US agencies are gearing themselves up to provide Master Vendor services to employers.  The most recent survey indicated that over 40% of agencies were able to provide this service to their clients.
• An increasing number of US agencies are also providing RPO (recruitment process outsourcing) with over 28% of staffing firms offering this as a service.
• Both temporary and permanent work has been impacted by the downturn, although some sectors remain extremely strong such as Medical, Engineering and Legal support services.
• Despite the current economic climate, the long term outlook for the industry in the US is strong, with a projected 18.9% growth for employment services between 2006 and 2016.
• The need for agencies to be vigilant in their contractual terms with employers and jobseekers was stressed.  There have been a number of cases in the US recently of workers suing the agency that found them a permanent post on the basis that the agency “mis-sold them the job”.  In addition, 25% of agencies are offering HR consultancy services to their clients.
• The temporary work market in the US is worth around $95bn dollars.  Interestingly, it is estimated that the market for freelancers and individual contractors is worth over $360bn dollars this is seen as a potential opportunity for the recruitment industry as freelancers could benefit from guidance and support in accessing assignments.  In addition, employers are looking for ways of vetting the freelancers that they use which is a function that agencies could potentially provide.
• The procurement of recruitment services is a major issue for US agencies and for the American Staffing Association.  Many of the concerns mirror those of agencies in the UK.  The ASA is currently taking forward the development of ‘best practice’ guidance for vendor management systems and managed service providers.

For more information on the American Staffing Association please go to http://www.americanstaffing.net/

For more information on CIETT please go to http://www.ceitt.org/