Last year, the number of recruitment organizations in the UK with a digital transformation strategy rose “dramatically”, according to a new report from Bullhorn.
Based on a survey of more than 2,000 recruiters, the report states that more than two fifths (43 percent) of recruitment organizations now have a digital transformation plan in place, up from just 25 percent a year ago.
Covid-19 is cited as the most likely catalyst for this change, with recruiters who are yet to begin the process of transformation saying the pandemic made them “more likely” to act (23 percent). Among those have already begun to transform, a third have expedited the process due to Covid.
The pandemic also made the recruitment industry unattractive for potential founders. More than a tenth (15 percent) of respondents believe the number of new competitive recruitment companies will drop, as businesses consolidate.
The scale of disruption caused by the pandemic is perhaps best seen in the list of challenges faced by staffers and recruiters in the UK. For the first time in a decade, the talent shortage has been dethroned as the number one challenge, and replaced by the impact of the pandemic on the labor market, as well as hiring freezes.
Recruiters further believe that unemployment rate and economic instability will be the two areas in which the impact of Covid-19 will be most felt. A quarter (26 percent) are planning on expanding into new industries.
