Download - 2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report
2020 Global RecruitmentIndustry Report
Table of
Contents
About JobAdder
Introduction
Growth
New Jobs Created
Placements
Agency User Numbers
Performance
By month of placement
By placement source
Temp and Contract
Temp/Contract Placements
04
05
07
09
13
16
18
20
...........................................................
...........................................................
...........................................................
...........................................................
...........................................................
...........................................................
...........................................................
...........................................................
Data represented in this report is based on data and information contained in or produced by the JobAdder platform only and does not contain any other data or market research information.
4
About JobAdder
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | About JobAdder
JobAdder is a leading cloud-based recruitment software solution that helps agency and in-house recruiters find and manage talent more effectively through automation. JobAdder’s flexible powerful technology works with existing recruitment processes and HR systems to offer a seamless experience. Recruiters get the tools they need to do great work, ultimately enabling them to focus on the work that matters.
“2020 has been a remarkable year to say the least. The COVID-19 pandemic has been very challenging for the overall economy with the recruitment sector being hit particularly hard, not to mention the personal hardships endured by millions. Many of us are seeking answers about what happened and what’s to come.
At JobAdder we’re proud that our technology powers recruitment for thousands of businesses and for hundreds of thousands of jobs. The JobAdder platform keeps the pulse for hiring across the globe. And now, in partnership with Greg Savage, we’re excited to share some insights based on this pulse that I hope you’ll find useful.”
Martin Herbst
JobAdder CEO
5
Introduction
What a year!
For everyone, of course, but as hiring demand reflects the economy, the recruitment industry has been hit harder than most.
My daily work as a Recruitment company Board Advisor meant that I was right in the thick of dozens of management discussions when the virus hit, and economies began to close down. The data provided here from JobAdder is so valuable because it provides some science to support the intuition many of us have about the market, and signs of an impending recovery.
All leaders are making difficult decisions, and having this type of data allows them to do so with greater confidence.
Certainly, these numbers support what I witnessed from March till now. The best way to characterise the reality and the response of the recruitment industry over that time is to visualise three distinct ‘stages’. Of course, they evolved at a different pace depending on the country, sometimes even the city. (Melbourne in Australia, for example).
Overall, however, Agency recruitment, and especially the leadership, passed through these three phases as they responded to the situation.
Shock, disbelief and panic.
With a career spanning four decades, Greg is a founder of 4 highly successful businesses and is a trusted advisor and respected voice across the global recruitment and professional services industries.
Greg works with JobAdder in a product advisory capacity to tackle the biggest challenges faced by recruitment owners.
Greg Savage
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Introduction
6
Downsizing, consolidation and restructuring.
Reinvigoration, reinvention and recovery.
All three stages can be seen in the JobAdder data.
In March, when the full horror of the pandemic took hold and governments began closing industries and locking down the population, the recruitment industry virtually ground to a halt. The data shows it here, but my experience with clients at that time was vivid and stunning.
wwOne client of mine, used to averaging 120 new job orders a week, was down to 13 new orders weekly, in early April. Leaders were distraught. Staff were terrified. Hiring virtually stopped. Fear was common, denial rampant, and confusion universal.
The third stage began once leaders felt the bottom had been reached. In Australia and New Zealand the virus was being contained (notable outbreaks notwithstanding) and the UK was released from severe restrictions and pubs were opened, always a sure sign that optimism will return.
The US, with its haphazard approach to lock-downs and restrictions, did not decline as fast as the rest, and variations in infection rates and lock-down rules across the country is significant.
One thing all leaders were crying out for during the entire crisis was almost impossible to find. Data. Information. Insights. The situation evolved so fast, with new announcements made every day, rumours were so rife, it became almost impossible to make decisions based on any clear facts.
I believe JobAdder numbers and insights are invaluable because they offer us visibility to exactly how the market is recovering, and provide a lead for us all to act upon.
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Introduction
7
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
13.3%-13.0%
-46.4%20.4%
27.0%13.5% -2.3%
10.5%
New Jobs Created
New Jobs Created | Australia
The 2020 history of ‘New jobs created’ in JobAdder by Recruitment Agencies vividly tells the story of this year through the lens of the three phases I described in the introduction. In March the virus hit and panic reigned, Australia is a good example. The year had started well. January was up on December, and February the same again. Then a big dip in March followed by a cataclysmic collapse in April. New Zealand is even more stark, showing a massive 61.7% drop in orders in April on March figures.
No doubt the swift and rigid lock-down of all New Zealand citizens by the government on 25 March is the cause. The UK followed almost the same pattern. Restrictions started in mid-March, with the full lock-down on 28 March, resulting in a similar decline in job orders lodged. (60.5%). The US and Canada were also heavily affected (38.8% down in April), but the decline was not as dramatic. However, the bounce back in the US and Canada was also subdued compared to the other three countries, who all saw a strong rebound in orders in May, albeit from a much lower base number.
As the year progressed the jobs recovery continued, although in Australia you can see it was patchy, especially August, where I suspect the impact of the ‘second wave’ in Melbourne, and the subsequent lock-down were to blame. After a powerful bounce back, NZ has literally ‘flatlined’ since June, perhaps because the country was essentially COVID-free, and to some extent it was ‘Business as Usual’. The UK climb back has been consistent, with a big surge in September, while the US and Canada have been steady rather than spectacular.
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Growth
Growth
8
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
-9.9%
-21.2%
-60.5%
50.3%16.0%
33.7% -2.6%
35.9%
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
-16.6%
-11.6%
-38.8%22.9%
30.3% 4.6% 2.5% 4.3%
New Jobs Created | USA & Canada
New Jobs Created | UK/EU
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
12.0% -7.8%
-61.7%
62.6%
49.0% 1.6% -1.3% 0.3%
New Jobs Created | New Zealand
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Growth
92020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Growth
Placements Permanent
‘Jobs filled and invoiced’ is the ultimate measure of the health of our industry, and in terms of permanent placements, all countries have shown steady growth since the April nadir. New Zealand bounced right back after its short, sharp lock-down, and is now back to February levels. Meanwhile, the US and Canada seem to have shrugged off their many challenges, with August and September permanent placement growth at higher levels than the pre-COVID months of 2020.
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
22.9% 2.5%
-51.7% 5.8%
23.4%18.5% -2.4%
15.6%
Australia | Permanent
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
25.6%
23.8%
-44.3%
40.9% 2.9%-11.3%
31.1% -3.0%
New Zealand | Permanent
10
UK/EU | Permanent
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
0.3%
26.6%
-41.0% -15.8%
48.8% 12.8% -6.2%
39.6%
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
12.9%12.7%
-54.9%
35.9%
22.6% 4.2%
42.1%9.1%
USA & Canada | Permanent
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Growth
11
Placements Temp/Contract
Interestingly, and counter-intuitively, temporary placements in Australia were slower to rebound than permanents, although the increase has now held steady since June. New Zealand bounced back fast and hard in May and has shown continued growth since, with a slightly worrying drop in September (Election-related?).
Temp/Contract in the UK has come back strong, soaring in September by 58% on August numbers. We hope this continues, but a re-appearance of virus infections in October does not bode well. The Temp/Contract decline in the US and Canada was actually minimal over March/April and since then has risen consistently.
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
12.3%4.0%
-32.8% -3.6%
30.8%11.5% -3.7%
11.1%
Australia | Temp/Contract
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Growth
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
34.9%
-19.0%
-55.7%
59.0%
17.6% 8.8%12.9%
-10.1%
New Zealand | Temp/Contract
12
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
-11.5%
18.8%
-55.1%
34.5%-17.6%
36.8%9.1%
58.1%
UK/EU | Temp/Contract
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Growth
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
-17.2% -12.2%-17.3%
92.2% -6.8%
35.4%
-13.5%
35.6%
USA & Canada | Temp/Contract
13
Agency User NumbersThe JobAdder ‘subscription-per-user’ model means customers only pay for licences they are using, so this data is a good reflection of how many recruiters were active over this period. The decline in user numbers suggests recruiter job losses, or perhaps furlough in the UK.
While there are variations in timing and magnitude of change across countries, you can see, the massive decline as Coronavirus hit, and the rebound a few months later, is common to all.
Australia | Net expansion of users within existing customers
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
-76.9%
-1,272.0%
13.7%
21.7%
98.0%
-250.0%
278.6%84.0%
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Growth
14
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
-95.5%
-3,533.3%
-127.2%
118.8%31.8%
-101.7%
9,300.0%
-43.5%
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
333.3%
-528.6%
43.3%
-82.4%
122.6%
-142.9%
300.0%
50.0%
New Zealand | Net expansion of users within existing customers
UK/EU | Net expansion of users within existing customers
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Growth
15
2020-01
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
225.0%
-203.8% 11.1%
95.8%
1,300.0%
308.3%
-114.3%
342.9%
USA & Canada | Net expansion of users within existing customers
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Growth
16
Days to place by month of placement
Temp & Contract
2020-01
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
Australia
New Zealand
UK & Europe
USA & Canada
This is fascinating data. Australian Agencies take the fewest days to fill Temp and Contract orders, while the UK and NZ are not far behind. All three average under ten days. Frankly, that seems too long to me, and I wonder if there is an element of “data entry delay” impacting those figures? (Yes, I am accusing recruiters of not doing their admin on time. Crazy, huh?).
The US and Canada stand out from the rest with closer to a 15-day average, which is puzzling. Also obvious is the fact that in the past four months, ‘Days to fill’ have blown out across all locations. Why is this? Are clients being more fastidious? Is there a shortage of talent emerging again?
Performance
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Performance
17
2020-01
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
50.0
40.0
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
Australia
New Zealand
UK & Europe
USA & Canada
Once again, three countries are grouped together, this time in the late ‘twenties to early thirties’ in terms of ‘days to fill’ a permanent role. New Zealand stands out as taking longer, 35 to 40 days, which is intriguing.
As with Temp/Contract ‘Time to fill’, the time it takes to fill permanent roles has also increased globally for all locations over the past few months.
Days to place by month of placement
Permanent
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Performance
18
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
50.0
40.0
AustraliaNew Zealand United Kingdom United States
External Source
JobAdder Database
Days to place by placement source
Permanent
Be it Temp/Contract or Permanent, the clear fact is that you fill jobs faster from your database. Of course, you do! You don’t have to go through the entire sourcing, screening, assessing, checking process from scratch.
If ever there was some data to encourage Agency Owners and Managers to improve the use of their database candidates, this is it. In all countries, it pretty much takes 50% longer to fill a permanent role if you go outside of your database. On the Temp and Contact side it is even more stark.
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Performance
19
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
AustraliaNew Zealand United Kingdom United States
External Source
JobAdder Database
Days to place by placement source
Temp & Contract
Broadly speaking, it takes two to three times as long to fill a Temp/Contract role if you don’t fill it from your already sourced and screened candidates.
The message is clear. Don’t allow your database to become a candidate graveyard. Update the data and engage on an ongoing basis to ensure you access available candidates in real-time.
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Performance
20
Temp & Contract Placements
Temp & Contract
2020-01
0%
40%
20%
60%
80%
100%
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
68% 66% 68% 72% 73% 73% 70% 70% 69%
32% 34% 32% 28% 27% 27% 30% 30% 31%
Perm
Temp & Contract
Not surprisingly, the majority of jobs being filled by Agencies right now across the world, are Temp/Contract roles. Australia hovers around 70% of roles filled being Temp/Contract. NZ is even more Temp/Contract biased (75% -80%).
Both the UK (60% Temp/Contract) and the US/Canada (55% to 65%) have a slightly higher leaning towards permanent roles.
Australia
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Temp & Contract
21
2020-01
0%
40%
20%
60%
80%
100%
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
59% 56%67%
62%72%
58% 62% 65% 68%
41% 44%33%
38%28%
42% 38% 35% 32%
Perm
Temp & Contract
2020-01
0%
40%
20%
60%
80%
100%
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
82% 83%74% 75% 77% 79% 81%
77% 75%
18% 17%26% 25% 23% 21% 19%
23% 25%
Perm
Temp & Contract
New Zealand
UK/EU
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Temp & Contract
22
2020-01
0%
40%
20%
60%
80%
100%
2020-02
2020-03
2020-04
2020-05
2020-06
2020-07
2020-08
2020-09
55%49% 49%
63%72%
66%71%
60%65%
45%51% 51%
37%38%
34%29%
40%35%
Perm
Temp & Contract
USA & Canada
2020 Global Recruitment Industry Report | Temp & Contract
JobAdder.com
AUSTRALIA EUROPE
UNITED STATESNEW ZEALAND
+61 2 8005 5711 +44 20 3936 0975
+1 208 917 1271+64 27 3333 904
Contact Us