“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”: The Recruitment Industry

I read an article the other day that boldly foretold the ultimate and certain death of the Recruitment Industry. It was basically written as a pre-obituary since the author felt that the coming death was inevitable. This came as quite a shock to me as I did not even realize it was ill.

As a matter of fact, as a Managing Partner of a mid-sized agency, I see the Recruitment Industry every day and it seemed extremely healthy the last time I checked. It had a very good heartbeat, was as strong as an Ox, and seemed to be in its prime. Of course, I am not a doctor, or an economist. I am not even as good a prognosticator as Wiarton Willie or Punxsutawney Phil (the gophers who can uncannily forecast an early spring, or a prolonged winter). Upon further contemplation, this unseen critical illness did not seem impossible since I vividly recall the death of some other beloved industries such as my fondly-remembered friends the VCR and the typewriter. *Sniff*.

However, as I continued to read the “obit”, it seemed that the Recruitment Industry was not going to die of natural causes; it was actually going to be murdered! Obviously, I was horrified. Who would commit such a horrendous act and, more importantly, why? I decided to take it upon myself to conduct a CSI-style investigation to determine who, or what, would commit this ghastly act. I donned my Sherlock Holmes hat, borrowed an old toy pipe from one of my kids, and whispered under my breath; “The game is afoot!”. 

Upon close examination of the evidence, I discovered that the writer of the article was pinning the untimely demise of the Industry (a strong and growing sector of the economy) on some of its closest friends; LinkedIn, Google, and Facebook. Along with their accomplices - Big Data and Propensity Algorithms – they will apparently ambush the Recruitment Industry in an unprovoked, mob-style attack, and go for the jugular vein in a swift and very painful assassination. Those cads! 

I have always heard that the perpetrator of most violent crimes are known by the victims, so I actually should not have been shocked. However, these specific attackers have actually been strong supporters of the Industry up until now. Most Recruiting Professionals use these services on a regular basis and they appear to have a strong, almost symbiotic relationship with the web-based networking platforms and the services they offer. As I continued my digging, it was obvious that the author of the forecast likely underestimated the resiliency and strength of the Industry and did not take into account that professional Recruiters have traditionally embraced technological changes and have emerged stronger in spite of them.

As a matter of fact, this is not the only time the Recruitment Industry was the target of such a directed attack. It happened over 15 years ago when the first internet job-boards entered the scene. At that time, many of those would-be fortune tellers delivered the same prophecy; the death of the Recruitment Industry at the hands of newcomers like Monster.com, Workopolis.com and similar sites. It was loudly announced that since job-seekers would be able to have easy access to hundreds of jobs they would now be able to present themselves directly to those elusive hiring managers. It was also predicted that employers would be able to receive quality applications from well-qualified candidates and would obviously no longer need the assistance of those pesky and blood-hungry Recruiters, or “head-hunters”. However, the Recruitment Industry embraced this change in technology, used it to its advantage, and bounced back stronger and healthier than ever.

Flash-forward 15 years and those fortune-tellers and Doomsayers are back on the old bandwagon. The Recruitment Industry is being compared to the proverbial lame-horse and they are suggesting that its closest friends (the social-media powerhouses and "big data") are in the process of dragging it out to the barn to put it out of its misery. In reality, this could not be further from the truth. As the following chart shows, the Industry in North America is growing steadily and strongly, and appears to be quite healthy. 

As in the past, the better recruiting agencies and industry leaders will undoubtedly use recent technological advances to their benefit and will emerge stronger and more valuable than before. They will continue to be relied upon by both job-seekers and employers to understand how to satisfy the needs of both and they will remain an indispensable link in the recruitment chain. There will always be naysayers and pessimists but I prefer to base my forecasts on facts and figures, not conjecture and glass-half-full prophecies. 

Since my investigation seemed to be over, I took off the hat, emptied the bubble-soap from the pipe, and asked the Recruitment Industry for a quote on this subject; not really expecting a reply since the Industry is usually extremely busy and does not have time for such nonsense. To my surprise, the next day I received the following brief statement in my inbox: “As Mark Twain once declared; The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”. 

Well said my old friend, well said.

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Sean Kogan is Managing Partner and Franchisor of Recruiting in Motion; a professional services recruitment firm and one of the country's fastest-growing companies, as per Canadian Business and Profit Magazine's annual listing of fastest-growing companies.