Internet recruitment effectiveness doubles, says report

The effectiveness of the Internet in the recruitment process has doubled since 2000, according to research commissioned by recruitment group Reed.

The research showed that more than two thirds of HR commentators (72%) now feel that the Internet is an effective recruitment medium, compared to 42% in 2000.

More than one in three (38%) of the largest organizations surveyed (those with over 5000 staff) also stated that they felt Internet recruitment was more effective than any other recruitment method.

The research also found that only 1% of HR experts felt that the Internet was an ineffective recruitment method, compared with 20% in 2000.

The main advantage of Internet recruitment, according to the research, was its low cost, which was chosen by 40% of the HR commentators questioned.

However, while costs have decreased, the percentage of the recruitment budget dedicated to Internet recruitment has more than doubled compared to 2000. The amount spent on Internet recruitment averages 11.4% of the annual recruitment budget across all organisations, compared to just 4% in 2000.

Large companies are spending more as a percentage of their recruitment budgets than small companies, with half the organizations with over 5000 staff saying that they were spending over a third of their recruitment budgets on the Internet.

Dan Ferrandino, Director of recruitment website reed.co.uk, who commissioned the research, said: “Back in the year 2000, many HR professional felt that the Internet was an unproven recruitment method of arguable effectiveness.

"Now, well over two thirds testify to the effectiveness of the Internet as a recruitment method, with the larger companies even more likely to maximize their usage of this medium for recruitment than smaller ones.”

Over 100 HR professionals from organizations across the UK were surveyed for the research by Reed.

The survey revealed that 'professionals' are the staff category most effectively recruited over the Internet, with nearly half of those surveyed (48%) found the Internet particularly effective when recruiting at this level.

However, while professional staff top the list for Internet recruitment, the research also found that the Internet was deemed effective for recruiting a wide variety of different jobs.

(KMcA)