One of the reasons why TRech could not wait any longer to launch, is the overwhelming data referred to the recruitment demand:
Amy Schultz, the global head of talent acquisition for the Australian software maker Canva, wrote in a recent post: “As of right now, there are 364,970 ‘Recruiter’ jobs advertised on LinkedIn worldwide. For comparison, there are 342,586 ‘Software Engineer’ roles open on LinkedIn worldwide.”
Job listings for recruiters tripled between January 2019 and January 2022, outpacing growth in the job market overall, according to data from LinkedIn.
But what has triggered this swift? Which factors are influencing the ecosystem? Where do the roots of these shortage lay?
The poor choice of downsizing Recruitment teams during the pandemic:
Part of todays "Great Resignation" comes off the back of the "Great lay off" we experienced only a couple of years ago. While we are not trying to expose those who had to make the hard decision of letting go their staff, it created a general feeling of instability within professionals - all of a sudden job security had nothing to do with your seniority, your results or tenure - therefore many recruiters who found themselves jobless, made a complete career change and left the industry. Leaving Recruitment agencies having to restore their previous sizes once the market picked up again, but this time there were less active recruiters to pick from.
The shift in values:
Not that long ago, free breakfast, a ping pong table and company socials where attractive selling points, however after spending months in our houses, we realised that the most valuable thing was to be able to sleep extra, to spend more time with our families, friends and pets, to use your lunch time to tidy our flats... while keeping on doing the exact same job from the comfort of our home, with zero need to commute into a loud office, wear a suit, or comply with after work drinks, in order to do your job well. Companies who have not upgrade their "benefits package" have simply fallen behind to meet the work-life balance requirements.
The lack of flexibility when interviewing:
The expectations to find copycat top billers, the continuous lack of resources to bet on juniors, the wrong idea of what a good sales person looks like or sounds like, the obsession of Recruitment Managers to find mini-mes... are adding weight to the challenge. Until the processes are not reviewed and improved, and the expectations are realistic and fair, we will not be able to fix the need for talent.
The attractiveness of freelancing:
Freelance recruiters have always existed, but since the "digital nomad era" the numbers have massively increased. Tired of not being valued, of having unrealistic billing targets, of missing their promotions due to external factors...overall of being disenchanted with agencies practises coming from top level Management who have not done recruitment themselves for over 15 years. Many solid performing recruiters have left their silly basic salaries behind to make it on their own. This is a real threat to agencies, given that most companies when signing T&Cs do it because they buy into the recruiter and not necessarily the agency itself.
The "bro" cultures, so embedded into the Sales environments:
Nobody can argue that D&I is an important topic in any Talent Acquisition strategy, but often companies focus on Diversity, forgetting the Inclusion part. It is not a secret that Sales environments have an "Old School" mentality, watch The Wolf of Wall Street and you will not be far off from what some agencies look like from the inside. How can your clients trust you with their hiring, when you are full of biases within your own staff? How can you attract and retain diverse talent so necessary and proven important for performance improvement, if you have a toxic atmosphere where people feel uncomfortable to be themselves?
We have just launched our Agency Solutions: TRech Academy & TRech Upskilling. Click here to learn how TRech can support your growth and overcome the challenges.