This is according to the ‘Covoronavirus Impact on In-House Recruitment’ report to be released on Thursday [30 April 2020].

Produced by The FIRM [Forum for In-House Recruitment Managers] with Talent Nexus, the report says 34% of in-house recruiters have “materially changed” the way they work with suppliers. More than half of the respondents from over 300 organisations have reduced or cancelled spend with agencies as a result of both recruitment freezes and spending cuts, the report says.

“It seems likely this number [the 34%] will grow as time goes on – not least because only 17% of recruiters said they had a clear picture of their budgets going forwards,” the report narrative says. “Many of the recruiters we spoke to are working on the assumption that budgets will be much lower when they are confirmed.”

Least affected in the changing supplier relationships are technology providers and pay-per-performance job boards.

The survey asked respondents what suppliers could be doing better to help support in-house recruitment teams, some top suggestions included:

• Offer longer payment terms where possible to reduce short-term financial pressure
• Be flexible with opportunities to pause/freeze/postpone services so they can be better utilised when times are better
• Provide more value via additional industry and support to help inform the industry on what’s happening.

The report went on to say that respondents reported that “lots of suppliers” were already reacting positively to such feedback. “In the first month of this pandemic, a number of leading organisations have launched really creative and ambitious initiatives to ease the strain recruiters are feeling – including free services”. 

• For more of the report findings, see the next issue of Recruiter magazine.

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