A majority of staffing firms, 71%, expect revenue to increase this year, according to the 2021 Global Recruitment Insights and Data survey released by staffing software provider Bullhorn. In addition, a fifth of survey respondents expect revenue to increase this year by more than 25%.
Bullhorn’s survey, which included more than 2,000 responses from recruitment professionals around the globe, also found that 43% of staffing firms have a digital transformation strategy or process in place. This compared to just 25% in a similar survey last year.
“The leading staffing and recruiting firms today are focused on digital transformation, a three-pronged journey that combines the digitization of huge volumes of data with automation and, eventually, artificial intelligence, to unlock new levels of productivity and truly transform the way businesses operate,” Bullhorn President and CTO Matt Fischer said in a statement.
Candidate sourcing was the top priority for 2021, according to 54% of firms surveyed. It was followed by winning new clients at 45%.
Other findings in the survey included:
- The top challenges for 2021 were Covid-19’s impact on the labor market, cited by 63%; tight talent pools, cited by 44%; and hiring freezes, cited by 26%.
- 55% of firms reported a talent shortage. However, when looking at just light industrial staffing providers, the percentage was 72%.
- The biggest obstacle to winning new clients, according to 30%, is hiring freeze/lack of budget.
- What will be the largest consequence from Covid-19 on the way your staffing or recruiting business operates? Of those surveyed, 33% said remote recruiting; 25% said less use of office space; and 20% said remote onboarding.
- 56% said remote jobs will be more common. In addition, 30% of firms said all of their recruiters are working remotely in 2021, and 26% said a majority of recruiters were remote. Only 13% said none of their recruiters work remotely.