2015 is set to be a great year in recruitment. While there is some fear around deflation across the euro zone most indicators are reading amber to green with an upward trend. In recruitment terms it would seem that Scotland is performing well versus rUK.
Scotland now has a working population of over 2.6 million and an unemployment level of 5.7%. Interestingly this compares favourably to the 6.1% average level of unemployment in the UK’s other ‘regions’. Confidence is of course at a high and it seems it has reached the workforce on the ground. Several studies have predicted that greater than 37% of the workforce is planning to move jobs this year.
Now planning to move doesn’t mean reality, but one thing is for sure; employee turnover levels are forecast to rise sharply in 2015. Candidate confidence plus Scottish talent shortages, amongst the highest levels in Europe, means that the battles to attract and retain are going to heat up significantly.
Who will win the war? Well I think it will be down to who plans best for this attrition time bomb. Those who have a plan and solution in place before the need arises, always trump those who scramble to create a short term quick fix.
It is with this scenario in mind that I will make my predictions for 2015. Rather than tell you about big data, the cloud and mobile; all of which are very important. I thought I would focus on more practical examples of what s1jobs will do to help companies win in this war for talent.
Prediction 1
Video interviewing will be huge in 2015. It has always been there but adoption has been low due to some fundamental fear factors. Discrimination was always a concern for employers and candidates. I believe this has all been removed by the introduction of social media. Candidates and employers both know that most candidates have been ‘seen’ before the interview.
While most people have uploaded photos, few had recorded videos of themselves. A potential blocker for conduction video interviews but ALS ice bucket challenge changed that. People who had previously never recorded videos were doing so and uploading it to social media.
So video interviewing will significantly help companies reduce cost and reduce hiring times. For the candidate it is going to help people demonstrate who they are, which is often more powerful than the commoditised CV.
Prediction 2
s1jobs will help companies differentiate themselves better in 2015 through a suite of products. Not all of them will be brand new, but it’s often harder to do things better than do something new. Companies have been trying to stand out for a long time and often don’t know if it has worked or not due to a lack of metrics on what most deem a soft term.
Well, s1jobs will change that and help companies measure their Employer Brand Index, a finally measurable differentiation. So many other measures are polluted by the company’s main brand. On social media for example how do you know if the follower is interested in you as an employer or keen on your product, it’s hard to tell. s1jobs seems the perfect platform to measure the true employer brand value, so look out for that.
Prediction 3
Competing for talent is no longer local. Globalisation has passed the tipping point and 2015 will be a war for Talent. We understand that on some occasions companies will need to look outside Scotland to attract talent. We have responded to that need and have introduced a series of products which can extend beyond the s1jobs ecosystem to identify and obtain the expertise you need. This year we will extend our products to help Scottish companies extend their reach.
Market update for December
There were over 10k more jobs advertised in December across Scotland than during the same period in 2013. Here are the sector winners:
Top 5 sectors in Scotland by job volume for December
Engineering
IT
Sales
Health & Social Care
Director/Management
Companies continue to restore their management layers. Nearly 5k jobs were posted for directors or managers across Scotland in December.
Top 5 sectors in Scotland by YOY growth
Health & Social Care – 81%
Customer Service – 57%
Property & Construction – 55%
Retail – 43%
Marketing/Advert/PR – 42%
Marketing is making its first appearance in the top 5 for YOY growth, while retail was to be expected.
s1jobs Recruitment Awards
We have now opened the entries for the s1jobs Recruitment Awards. The awards themselves are growing by request and we have added a number of new categories. These awards are a great way to differentiate yourself as an employer of choice of course and you can enter here, closing date is Thursday 26th of February.
I hope you all have had a great start to the year.
Thanks,
Gavin
