Benefits February 22, 2010

Recession Drives Spike in Internal Movement of Workforce

February 22, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Internal transfers and promotions were the source of 51% of all the full-time positions companies filled on average in 2009, according to a new white paper.

Reported by

Rebecca Moore

According to CareerXroads’ 9th Annual Source of Hire study, this is a significant increase over 2008, but the spike in internal movement is a result of the recession and internal transfers and promotions are expected to return to normal levels in 2010.

For external hires, the study found the number one source is referrals, at 26.7%. The white paper says the yield for referrals is one hire for every 15 referrals, making this category the most efficient source by far.

Hires attributed to Job Boards represent 13.2% of external hires, led by Monster and CareerBuilder, which account for more than half the job board hires. However, this source may lose ground as companies plan to reduce costs and shift to other sources.

The study found that social media, while rapidly expanding as a strategy, is still in its early stages. Only about 500 hires can be attributed to social media, but direct sourcing activities are increasingly adopting social media tools and tactics and companies are poised to expand social media initiatives rapidly in 2010 as the recession ends, CareerXroads says.

According to the white paper, 2009 also saw a decrease in staff or vendors who are the most specialized at using social media to track prospects, suggesting that social media has not been leveraged as much as was intended.

Hires attributed to company Web sites were significant, at 22.3%.

While hiring declined in 2008 and 2009, for 2010 only 10.8% of study respondents predicted further reductions in hiring, while 48% expect to grow and the remainder to hold steady. If realized, the predictions for 29% growth in 2010 would bring the recruiting function back to front and center, the report says.

Study respondents indicated plans to build or emphasize social media; build or rebuild sourcing teams; employ more SEO (search engine optimization)/SEM (search engine marketing) campaigns and initiatives; expand referrals; use more niche boards where necessary; and reduce overall use of job boards in general – major boards particularly. There were also frequent mentions of cold calling, branding, and improvement of career sites.

The white paper is at http://www.careerxroads.com/news/SourcesOfHire10.pdf.