The end of sourcing/recruiting?
Open Question to sourcers & recruiters: What happens to our industry once we have “full market” involvement with Social Networks?
As any economist knows 100% employment (meaning 0% unemployment) is neither possible nor good for the market, and they (you know those experts) typically believe that something in the range of 3-5% unemployment (known as full employment) is pretty much a best case scenario for the market. With this in mind I’ve been thinking lately that as we continue to move further into this Social Networking experiment what happens to sourcing and recruiting professionals as more and more of the people who currently are “hard to find” put their private information into the public domain?
Assume for a minute that somewhere in the next 3,5 or 10 years we hit the proverbial “full employment” level (90+ percent) of potential candidates who put their information on LikedIn, Facebook, or some other social network where they can be readily found by anyone. This poses many questions like:
- How do we evolve with the market and continue to be a viable option?
- What different services do we offer that will still entice companies to utilize our services?
- What happens to the fee structure/pay rates?
Or simply
- Does our industry just dry up and go away?
Understand that I’m not Chicken Little crying that the sky is falling, and certainly I have my own opinions, but I’d like to hear yours so please post a comment and let us know what you think.
TheVoiceOfIT
6 Comments
Reader Comments (6)
All the tools currently exist, but yet companies are struggling to find the skills and abilities that they need. Why isn't it happening yet?
And that people don't have much of a life and will continue to rely on these tools.
Many years ago the Job board was to be the "end" of the recruiter, as EVERY person in the world would add their resume to the internet, and could be "found" online. Decades later, and not even close.
The digital divide still exists and continues. People still have fears of privacy, as they get older they get more busy lives, and spend more time with families
Unemployment will not be an issue, and in regards to baby boomers.. (the baby boom scare really annoys me) - there is going to be No mass exodus as Generation Y has given our economy a larger boom than the Boomers had. (history repeats itself)
Personally, I think that social networks are fads, just like the skating rinks (roller derbys), or discos of the past. They will always be around, but like monster or other job boards, their popularity will wain, and people will become more and more concerned about conventional networking --
Human Physical Social Interaction will eventually take precedence
I don't disagree although I believe they'll still be there down the road. However, I do expect people will use them differently. Either because of the afforementioned privacy issue or simply because they will become descriminating in their connectivity habits and be more selective in chosing who to connect with in the future.
It is precisely for this reason that recruiters will always be needed. Sure an internal HR person can look on-line and see what other recruiters see but have they developed a relationship with these people, do they understand their goals and needs? Does a HR person understand what technology an IT pro wants to work with going forward? (In my experience, never...but that's another rant for another time). This is the value-add that a good recruiter brings to the table. Recruiters can also sell a company in a way that a HR person can not. A recruiter can get a frank assessment from a candidate that the HR person will never hear. And on and on. Not to mention, some companies just want third-party recruiters to manage the process for them in the same way they might want their call center outsourced.
Thanks for you comments and check out what others had to say at Recruitingblogs.com
http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blog/show?id=502551%3ABlogPost%3A45465