Global Recruiting Trends for 2017

​In order to play a role in key business outcomes, it is important to understand the industry and where it is headed. LinkedIn recently released its annual Global Recruiting Trends report for 2017, based on 4,000 corporate talent acquisition leaders across 35 countries. Take a look at some of the trends that will define recruiting in 2017.
 
Talent acquisition has a seat at the executive table
 
Hiring and talent leads will have more influence in 2017, giving leads greater access to those that make key decisions. Talent acquisition is seen as an important issue for most companies.
 

• 83% of HR leads meet with the C-suite regularly  
• 83% of recruiters say that talent is the #1 priority at their company

 
Hiring placement will increase
 
Recruiters can expect a busy work day looking for quality hires. The hiring volume of candidates actually placed is expected to increase in 2017.
 

• 56% of leaders say that their team’s hiring volume will increase, while;
• 79% of staffing firms say that there will be an increase in number of candidates placed

 
Top source for quality hires: employee referrals
 
The top three sources for obtaining quality talent include:
 

• 48% said employee referrals
• 46% said third-party website or online job boards
• 40% said social professional networks

 
This is not a surprise given that it is typically quicker to hire a referred employee. Some studies even show that referred employees perform better and help with attrition rates.
 
However, due to budget constraints, only 9% of companies’ recruitment budget is invested in employee referral programs. So, where is money being allocated?
 
Budgets allocated towards job postings and staffing agencies
 
Despite employee referrals being the top source for talent, most companies will invest the bulk of their recruitment budget in traditional tactics.
 

• 30% to job boards/advertising
• 22% to agency recruitment costs
• 17% to recruiting tools (e.g. sourcing, screen, ATS, CRM)
• 9% to employee referral programs
• 8% to employer branding

 
Additionally, compared to last year, it seems as though more recruiting budgets will remain flat. With budget constraints, recruiters will need to find creative ways to attract talent. We will see a rise of recruiters partnering with marketing to utilize job postings and ads as a sales and branding tool.
 
Employer branding remains at the top of the budget wish list
 
While most companies’ investment goes towards job boards/advertising, leaders appreciate the impact employer branding has on talent acquisition and would invest more money to this category if there weren’t constraints.
 

• 80% of talent leaders agree that employer brand has a significant impact on their ability to hire great talent
• 53% of talent leaders say that they would prioritize investing in long-term strategic plays like employer branding (if budget weren’t a constraint)

 
FUTURE TREND: Increased importance of diversity, screening automation, mission and data  
 
Top trends to shape the recruiting industry in the next few years include:

• 37% said recruiting more diverse candidates

• 35% said soft skills assessments
• 34% said innovative interviewing tools
• 33% said company mission
• 29% said using big data

 
With a hiring volume increase, focusing on these strategies will help to minimize human bias, make the time to hire less lengthy and will serve as key differentiators for competitors.