For our Sense 2023 State of Staffing Report, we surveyed nearly 500 staffing leaders on the challenges, goals and opportunities they’re facing during this unique time for our industry. I’m excited to share some of the most compelling insights from the report, along with actionable advice to help your staffing firm reach its goals this year.
Staffing leaders are focused on improving recruiter efficiency. In my conversations with staffing firms, I’m continuously hearing that productivity improvements can be integrated into existing workflows, without disrupting operations or overhauling established processes.
But one of the biggest roadblocks to productivity right now is scattered point solutions and fragmented tech stacks. When recruiters have to spend time learning multiple platforms (one for texting, another for email, etc.), it adds additional friction in how they work. They have to manage different logins and adapt to different interfaces, only to end up with candidate data that is isolated in each platform and needs to be manually inputted into the ATS.
In reality, the more tools you add, the more complicated things get.
While adding a one-off automation solution may have added a minor productivity boost a few years ago, a fragmented tech stack has no place in 2023. The staffing firms leveraging a robust talent engagement platform — that includes multiple features and seamlessly integrates with the ATS — are the ones operating the most efficiently.
PREMIUM CONTENT: June 2023 US Jobs Report
The average candidate drop-off rate is 37%. Candidates are applying for up to 12 jobs at once. Over half, 57%, are applying after office hours, and 62% say that the recruiter or hiring organization never gets back to them after they apply.
But it’s not even a matter of if you’re getting back to them; it’s how fast. If you’re not responding to them within minutes or even seconds, they’re setting their sights on the next opportunity. Quick — even instant — responses have become a must for succeeding in the staffing industry. In essence, your recruiters need to be available 24/7.Yes, that’s not realistic. But that’s where the staffing technology comes into play.
It seems like chatbots and AI have been hot topics lately so I’ll single them out since they play a massive role in reducing drop-off. But it’s important to note that the quality of chatbots on the market varies widely. The most successful staffing firms are leveraging chatbots purpose-built for recruiting to engage inbound and outbound candidates, capture application details, and schedule interviews — at all hours of the day, even when their recruiters are offline.
Job boards have become too costly. More than 40% of our survey respondents said determining how to reduce job board spend is one of their top challenges.
As job board costs have steadily increased in the past few years, innovative staffing firms have begun to explore new ways to source talent. There are plenty of alternatives to job boards, but I want to highlight database reactivation, as many staffing firms are focused on generating new candidates while overlooking the ones they already have.
With sophisticated AI-powered job matching, you can uncover past candidates in your database with the necessary skills and experience for new roles. You can then reengage them through automated outreach campaigns, turning your once-dormant database into a powerful source of new candidates at a fraction of the cost of job boards.
Get More Insights from Your Peers in the Industry
It’s always interesting to learn what’s top of mind for the staffing leaders at the forefront of our industry. I encourage you to check out our “2023 State of Staffing Report” for more data and insights.