Recruitment agencies buoyed by web

Far from being a detrimental influence upon traditional recruitment agencies, the internet has served to have a positive impact on the indutsry, according to the results of a new study.

Research carried out by thebestof reveals that those recruitment agencies that have embraced the internet tend to have significantly larger growth aspirations and ambitions than otherwise. According to figures, agencies small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have adopted online operations plan to grow their business by over 40 per cent this year.

This is in comparison to 20 per cent growth forecast among less web-savvy SMEs.

These findings suggest that the proliferation of the internet has actually been a positive development for many SMEs, including recruitment agencies, despite some fears that increased online activity might have proven problematic.

In particular, it was found that businesses that are most actively using the internet for marketing purposes expect to grow at twice the rate of those that are not, further evidence of the benefits afforded by online marketing.

Nigel Botterill, chief executive of thebestof, maintains that shifting trends in the internet now leave smaller recruitment firms in a good position to exploit the web for future growth.

"There's a whole generation of ordinary small businesses, like recruitment agencies, who have been quietly working in the background, using the web to steal market share from their bigger competitors," he told Online Recruitment.

In related news, online job boards are showing increased signs of popularity, according to figures from the National Online Recruitment Agency.

© Adfero Ltd

16 Aug 2007 14:57:33 (Source: Adfero)