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The First 100 Days - Recruiting in 2009

By Bryan Johanson, January 14, 2009

Do you think our new president will have it bad in his first 100 days?  The recruiting industry is looking even worse.  In late December we launched our annual survey and the results continue to roll in.  We're keeping the survey open for a few more weeks so we can get the broadest picture possible of what's happening out there.  You still have time to participate in the survey and receive the executive summary of our results, so if you haven't had a chance to fill it out, please take a moment to do it now by clicking here.  Don't delay. 

Read more articles by this author.

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In mid February we'll start releasing some of the results in a formal webcast for all survey participants.  In the meantime, below are a few interesting preliminary findings.

The economy outlook is taking a severe toll on the recruiting industry

The recruiting industry has always been a barometer for the overall economy.  Even before the government figures out that we are in a recession, we feel it.  We're also the last industry to fully recover once the economy is back on track.  According to this year's survey, only 8% of respondents say they are going to hire significantly more people in 2009 than in 2008.  41% are in some sort of hiring freeze and are expecting to downsize or stop hiring entirely in 2009.  40% are reporting that they are likely to hire the same number of people in 2009 as in 2008 or slightly more people.  Given that the overall unemployment rate has risen to 7.2 % nationally, it's actually encouraging that the slowdown isn't more wide spread.  In fact, I tend to view the glass as half full. Even with the current economic challenges, some businesses are thriving, which is where we'll be focusing our own efforts in 2009.

It's never easy to attract top talent, but it's even more difficult now

Recruiters report that it's increasingly more difficult to get top talent to consider any new opportunity – even if the job and the overall compensation package are outstanding.  In this type of economy people play it safe.  The housing crisis has made relocation very difficult.  People can't sell their homes, so they tend to stay put, or they leave their families in the house and find temporary housing.  Some companies are foolishly passing over very talented individuals because of hiring freezes. Very few corporate leaders seem to understand that now is the perfect time to upgrade their talent as more good people become available.  Convincing management to act on talent rather than react to the economy seems to be an uphill battle.

Doing more with less

Less money is being invested in recruiting.  Recruiters report that recruiting budgets are being cut as the number of open requisitions declines.  I was in a recruiter's office last week in Seattle in which open requisitions have slowed to a painfully slow pace and the ability to open new requisitions has completely stopped. She only had three open requisitions and these were all for internal candidates only.  Third-party recruiters report an abundance of candidates but a shortage of clients.  It's also getting harder to sift through the increased number of candidates available in some job categories, making finding the best more difficult.  We'll share how people are dealing with these challenges in our upcoming webinar where we reveal the full survey results.  We've lived through these types of situations before and we'll survive this one as well. 

Take the Survey

Each year The Adler Group produces an executive summary of the data that is freely shared will every individual who completes the whole survey.  There is also an exclusive webinar online with the whole Adler Group team to share results and, of course, predictions for the recruiting industry for the coming year.  All this simply for your honest answers to a few short questions.  You can take the survey by clicking here.  Thanks for participating.