However, it seems things are turning a corner, with 90% of UK employers seeking to recruit in 2022 – a significant increase from 66% the previous year. As a result, recruiters must adapt accordingly.

Here, Ross Slogrove, UK and Ireland country manager at business phone systems provider for recruitment Ringover, explores the industry’s ever-changing landscape.

Before we dive into how recruitment has changed, it’s important to reflect on the job market before the pandemic. In 2019, unemployment had been falling consistently for some time, with the employment rate reaching a record high of 76.2% that year.

This made sourcing top talent challenging. Recruiters had their work cut out for them, especially as many companies had not yet fully embraced technology to streamline recruitment processes. What’s more, while companies welcomed flexible working before the pandemic, the number of people working remotely or on a hybrid basis was nowhere near the levels we see today.

A changing landscape

Since 2020, recruiters have faced other hurdles that have made their jobs challenging. At the start of the pandemic, it was reported that 24% of the UK workforce was at risk of losing their jobs.

Total vacancies in April 2020 were down 54% compared to the pre-pandemic average for April. In fact, the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that vacancies in almost every occupation fell by at least 20%.

To allow businesses to continue operating, remote and hybrid working was introduced for those that could work from home. And many have remained that way. In fact, 76% of employers now offer remote and hybrid positions to meet candidates’ increased work-life balance expectations.

The great resignation

And then, after two years of a precarious job market, things have changed again. While businesses strive to return to their pre-pandemic operations, it’s clear their employees do not seek the same. Instead, more are leaving their jobs.

According to data from online job platform Reed, a third of employed adults say they’ve stayed in their job longer than planned because of the pandemic. Almost half of those surveyed also say they’re sending off more speculative applications than they were before the pandemic as people begin to broaden their horizons.

For businesses, this means they’re facing a ticking time bomb of their employees moving onto pastures new. For recruiters, it means more people are looking for jobs and more companies need help filling vacancies.

A new way

To manage the ongoing changes brought on by two years of pandemic, recruiters are leaning more on technology than ever before. Remote interviewing and onboarding is commonplace and often the preferred method of choice. Statistics from StandOutCV found that, as of January 2021, 86% of employer’s now favour video interviews.

Having access to a reliable video conferencing system, therefore, is an important component of any recruiter’s arsenal. But remote recruitment is much more than the quality of the video. Faced with a rising number of job vacancies, recruiters need an effective means of communicating with candidates, and managing their applications. They need phone system that’s more than just a phone system.

Good calling software should include the ability to simply integrate with popular recruitment CRMs like Bullhorn, which acts as a hub for recruiters to manage the entire recruitment process end-to-end. Such systems allow recruiters to source, interview and onboard candidates, while automatically recording calls, text messages and candidate data.

Uniting reliable calling technology with a means of collecting data form those calls means recruiters can focus on what really matters – hiring the right people. Instead of frantically jotting down candidate details, or the perfect person becoming lost in reams of notes, combining call technology with the right CRM gives recruiters a complete business tool.

Recruitment has changed dramatically in the last 25 years. With potentially hundreds of candidates on a recruiter’s schedule at one time, an integrated phone system with intuitive features specifically for recruitment agents can ensure they keep up with the changing landscape.