Charles Hipps is founder and managing director of award winning e-Recruitment software supplier WCN PLC (www.wcn.co.uk) and authored the “Guide to Best Practice e-Recruitment Projects” on behalf of the Government. To find out more about WCN PLC or discuss this article please visit www.wcn.co.uk, email chipps@wcn.co.uk or call 0208 296 5908. Similarly 22% have reduced their recruitment headcount; 50% left it unchanged; and only 5% increased it.
The results of an exclusive survey by WCN PLC, leading provider of e-Recruitment and talent management software, in conjunction with Personnel Today, reveals the experiences of 400 Personnel Today readers, including HR Directors, Board Level Directors and Managers. Meanwhile, the administrative burden of filling any vacancies is expected to increase; 98% of organisations are expecting more applications for their open vacancies; (fig. 3) 86% expect more general candidate queries; 91% expect more candidate queries about why they were unsuccessful; and 56% expect more candidates to lie or cheat.
72% of respondents said they are either not recruiting or are cutting headcount (24%). They (79%) also believe that Government intervention in the form of the internship subsidy scheme will have no significant impact on the number of internships they take on (fig. 1). Perhaps more surprisingly, 28% of organisations are recruiting. On the positive side, 69% of recruiters expect the quality of candidates to increase. Though, 89% of recruiters felt a strong employer brand was even more important in the downturn to attract these good candidates.
fig. 1. I expect a Government scheme subsidising the cost of internships would have little impact on the number of interns we hire in the next 12 months.
 fig. 3. I expect to receive more applications for each role
Almost half (46%) of organisations surveyed have reduced their recruitment budget; 32% of budgets are unchanged; and only 8% have increased their budgets (fig. 2). Lower budgets, fewer recruiters, higher applications and queries, and the need for more thorough pre-appointment checks make these challenging times for recruiters. Economies have to be made and difficult decisions taken, such as cutting spend on minorities advertising (13% of organisations have cut versus 2% increasing spend).

However, organisations need to be vigilant that corners are not cut at the expense of meeting legislative requirements or thoroughly vetting hires. For far-sighted employers, the abundance and higher quality of candidates makes now a perfect time to build a talent bank in preparation for economic recovery.
fig. 2. In terms of your overall recruitment budget compared to last year has it…
 In WCN Personnel Today Survey Part 2 we’ll look at how organisations are responding to the challenges of the downturn.

The survey comprised 403 respondents of whom 4% were board level directors, 8% were directors and 62% were department heads or managers.