67 Percent of Recruiting Professionals Think that Automation Will Help Human Workers, Not Eliminate Them
Other Findings Illuminate Recruitment Trends in Business Growth and Online Staffing Platforms
Bullhorn®, the cloud computing company that helps staffing and recruiting organizations transform their businesses, polled an audience of staffing industry leaders and practitioners on June 8 on three key areas around staffing disruption, yielding the following insights:
- Rise of automation and AI in recruiting and impact on the human workforce: Sixty-seven percent of staffing professionals believe automation will help to promote (not eliminate) top talent by relinquishing them of non-value-adding tasks such as scheduling and screening so they can grow their relationships. Alternatively, 33 percent of respondents said they plan to replace talent with technology to lower prices so they can build the most efficient businesses possible.
- The rise of the “gig economy” and technology platforms’ impact on staffing: Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they see partnership opportunities with digital staffing platforms because of their attractive prices, while 43 percent see online talent platforms thwarting their businesses because of increased competition.
- The merits of pursuing organic growth versus M&A: According to the data, 69 percent of staffing professionals said they prefer to build their organizations organically, while 31 percent said they favor to grow their businesses through mergers and acquisitions, which are accelerating because of private equity and cheap debt.
Bullhorn conducted the research based a real-time survey of 1,000 staffing professionals attending Art Papas’s keynote presentation at Engage 2017 – its annual recruitment industry conference that explores the opportunities and challenges associated with accelerating business growth by engaging customers, talent, and leaders. Bullhorn hosted the conference, which marked its 10th anniversary, June 7-9 at The Sheraton Boston Hotel with more than 1,000 attendees.
Hosted by Bullhorn and supported by platinum sponsors CareerBuilder, Indeed, First Advantage, CloudCall, and Kyloe, Engage 2017 presented the theme of “The New Relationship Economy,” helping recruiting companies navigate a new world of changing social dynamics, technological disruption, and globalized engagement models. It featured more than 40 powerful speakers including Joyce Russell of Adecco, Patrick Beharelle of TrueBlue, Jeff Bowling of The Delta Companies, Loretta Penn of PECC, Inc., Richard Wahlquist of the American Staffing Association, Mark Roberts of TechServe Alliance, Adrianne Nelson of Staffing Industry Analysts, and many more. In addition to four inspiring keynotes from General Ann E. Dunwoody, Steven Levitt, Tim Sanders, and Art Papas, Engage 2017 offered more than 25 actionable breakout sessions across six tracks: Engage Candidates, Engage Customers, Engage Leadership, Engage the Future, Engage Bullhorn, and Developer.
Engage 2017 also saw the debut of the Bullseye Awards for Staffing Innovation, sponsored by ClearEdge Marketing and Bullhorn. The Bullseye Awards honored the people and organizations in staffing who have transformed their businesses through innovation and excellence in sales, recruiting, operations, and technology implementation. Bullseye Awards winners and finalists included:
- Rising Star in Sales and Recruiting: Nicole Smartt, vice president at Star Staffing, Sieron Dottin, director of recruitment at Kelly Services, andRachel Freedenberg, division manager at Treeline, Inc. WINNER: Rachel Freedenberg.
- Rising Star in Operations and Technology: Michael Tosto, national recruiting director at Harvey Nash, Tim Davis, director of IT operations at Kavaliro, and Gina Chisholm, director of marketing and technology at KellyMitchell Group. WINNER: Gina Chisholm.
- Most Innovative Use of Technology (company award): ALKU, Apex Systems, Procom Consultants Group, and Resource 1. WINNER: Apex Systems.
For a summary of Engage 2017, including breakout session highlights, please visit http://ow.ly/9Tkd30cAqwu.
To register for Engage 2018, which will take place Wednesday, June 13-Friday, June 15, 2018, at The Sheraton Boston Hotel, please visit http://ow.ly/YtRv30cepKf.
About Bullhorn
Bullhorn is the global leader in CRM and operations software for the staffing industry. More than 7,000 staffing companies rely on Bullhorn’s cloud-based platform to drive sales, build relationships, and power their recruitment processes from end to end. Headquartered in Boston, with offices around the world, Bullhorn employs more than 600 people globally. The company is founder-led and backed by Vista Equity Partners. To learn more, visit www.bullhorn.com or follow @Bullhorn on Twitter.