As we begin the second decade of the NORA’s, it’s worth reflecting on just how much the UK online recruitment sector has changed, grown and matured since our very first awards were presented.  Back in 2001, we were seeing the initial bloom fall from the cheeks of many online businesses.  The Dotcom Bubble, as it was called had inflated so quickly, that new online ventures were being formed every day, and often gaining investment on the basis of a “fag-packet” business plan.  By 2001, no-one was investing, and many companies, like BOO.com, had folded after burning through immense amounts of investment.  The online businesses that survived, and exist to this day, are those which were built on sound business principals and, more importantly, actually worked for the consumer.

It is in this light then, that we should look at the online recruitment services which were shortlisted as Finalists for the inaugural NORA’s, and especially our Winners.  Let’s take a look:

National Online Recruitment Awards 2001

1. BEST GENERAL JOBSITE

GoJobsite
Monster
Planet Recruit
Top Jobs On The Net
Workthing

Due to the Jobsite.com domain being temporarily unavailable, Jobsite.co.uk had rebranded as GoJobsite.  That aside, only Jobsite and Monster remain in the same space as the market leaders they were in 2001. In doing so, they have been instrumental to the development of the sector in the UK, and continue to be so.

2. BEST SPECIALIST JOBSITE

Jobserve
Activate
Careers in Recruitment
GAAPweb
Just Engineers

Jobserve is in the history books as the world’s first job board.  Whilst broadening their scope to include all other industry sectors, many still perceive Jobserve as an IT specialist job board. 3 of the other finalists are now owned by major publishing groups, who were late to recognise the threat and opportunities of online recruitment.

3. BEST REGIONAL JOBSITE

Northwest Workplace
EasyCareer
JobsNorth
London Careers
S1jobs.com

Whilst S1 weren’t winners in the first NORA’s, they dominated this sector for many years, demonstrating just how vital regional focus is to online recruitment.

4. BEST NATIONAL RECRUITMENT AGENCY WEBSITE

Reed
Adecco
Haysworks.com
Manpower
Pertemps

Of these Finalists, only REED were shortlisted again in 2010. However, all of these organisations still carry huge clout in the UK recruitment industry.

5. BEST SMALL RECRUITMENT AGENCY WEBSITE (3 branches or less)

RGB Consultants
Executive Connections
Intrinsica
IT Human Resouces Plc
Synergy Resourcing

From the beginning it was clear that inventiveness and innovation would be driven by the smaller, ambitious recruitment agencies.  RGB continue to this day at www.rgb.co.uk .

6. BEST NATIONAL EMPLOYER’S WEBSITE (recruitment)

Carphone Warehouse
Asda
BAE Systems
Royal Navy
Sage

Frankly, these Finalists aside, the major employers of the UK often disappointed the NORA’s judging panel in the early part of the decade.  Happily, most are now very much up to speed, and fully exploiting social media to source their ongoing need for talent.  PS. The Army and Navy websites, as you might expect, have always led the way in successfully using the internet for recruitment.

7. BEST ONLINE RECRUITMENT SECTION BY A CONSUMER PUBLICATION

Sunday Times
Financial Times
Guardian Unlimited
The Independent
The Telegraph

You could say that the Finalists for this award always include the same “usual suspects”; and you’d be right.  However, whilst the names of the UK’s largest newspapers never changes much (aside from the NOTW), the competition between them has never been more fierce.  These newspapers now derive very little income from traditional paper-based recruitment classified advertising.

8. BEST ONLINE RECRUITMENT SECTION BY A TRADE PUBLICATION

Computer Weekly
Careers In Construction
Caterer and Hotelkeeper
Electronics Weekly
(The) GrocerJobs

Trade magazines were amongst the very first to “get it” that online recruitment was the future.  As monthly publications they very much needed to offer a real-time recruitment service to their clients and readers, and were ideally positioned to do so.  We often find the most stylish NORA entrants in this section.

9. BEST EMPLOYMENT ADVICE WEBSITE

Careers Portal
Career-Ahead
Career Guide
Inside Careers
Prospects

It did seem for a few years that specialist career advice sites were struggling to survive as independent businesses. Increasingly, the major job boards have invested time and resources into providing fantastic candidate-focussed services. However, in the past 3 years, we have seen the emergence of new and very innovative contenders for this award.

Additionally, since 2001, we have added awards for Best Newcomer, and for Best Innovation in Online Recruitment.  The relentless advance of social media channels has meant that new ideas, and new ways to implement them are coming thick and fast.  This year, we expect the use of SM channels, such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Youtube to be strong factors in the decision making of our judges.  Additionally, the ability to access recruitment services from a far wider range of devices will be vital too.

It may well be true that the NORA’s were created during a very difficult employment market, but out of that was born immense innovation in online recruitment practices.  The same could now be said, as a result of the 2008-2010 employment recession that has spurred innovation.  Whilst there will certainly not be plain sailing from this moment on, we now have an industry that has matured over two employment recessions, and all but usurped historic methods of recruitment advertising.  I fully expect the second decade of the NORA’s to be as exciting as the first.

Throw open the shutters, open the windows, and take the sandbags from the doors. The storm of recession has past, and we can all get back to normal. Perhaps not quite.According to the Office of National Statistics, the UK economy experienced growth of 0.1% in the last quarter, and unemployment unexpectedly fell by 7,000 in December. Now that the snow has cleared away, there’s nothing to stop us. These figures may be great for confidence, but there is much to overcome still in the recruitment market. Unemployment may have dropped slightly, but so too has the employment rate (down to 72.4% from a peak of 75% in early 2008). A study, produced in January by the CIPD, reveals that 1.31 million people were made redundant during the recession, and that two-thirds of those, who subsequently found work were paid an average of 28% less in their new job.

There are no prizes for guessing how this will affect the confidence of jobseekers, employers and the professional recruitment sector.This has been reflected in the volume of vacancies advertised online.The AlljobsUK.com Online Recruitment Index has monitored the number of job adverts on the UK’s major job boards for the last 10 years.If we take January 2008 to be the beginning of the employment crisis, then our Index was standing at 1,703.31. 2 years later, it’s 59% lower, at 821.51. In that time, the much predicted demise of print advertising as a primary advertising channel came to pass as. Whilst trade magazines and some newspapers still carry job adverts, it’s only with an accompanying job board.

In bald terms, the Alljobs Online Recruitment Index shows that the number of job adverts across the ten monitored sites has plummeted from 805,695 to a low of 258,992.Currently recovering slightly to 368,722, the details of each site are very illuminating. Firstly, we should know that many sites count their volume of vacancies differently, as they hold a job advert online for anything from a week to over a month. We collect weekly figures on how many vacancy adverts there are on each site at that time. The two charts, shown here, separate out Reed.co.uk and Totaljobs.com, as their volumes far exceed those of the other websites. Reed.co.uk is often taken to be an accurate indicator of job availability, as it is largely unimpeded by cost considerations. Free advertising means that, within limits, all agencies can advertise every single vacancy they have. Despite their huge volumes, Reed is currently displaying only 31% of its maximum number of job adverts over the last 2 years. Similarly, and at the other end of the scale, JustEngineers.net have lost over 90% of their volume during the same period. Engineering and manufacturing sectors have clearly taken a big hit. Furthermore, whilst Monster have mostly outperformed their immediate rivals, Jobsite, Totaljobs and CVLibrary, they are now dipping and have lost 65% of their peak volume. Not only are there fewer vacancies, but a lesser proportion are being advertised in bulk on the biggest job boards.

As recruiters have been forced to re-evaluate all expenditure, online advertising with the major job boards has suffered enormously. The old model of “advertise and wait” simply doesn’t work on its own anymore, and recruiters are having to be far more active and creative, in order to identify and attract candidates. Social media websites, in the form of Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter are being exploited, and all networks are being leveraged by recruiters determined to satisfy clients.

We have now seen an encouraging bounce-back from the extended winter dip. The Alljobs Index is up 244.48 since New Year, and many other market indicators are positive. If the statistics are anything to go by, where we have now had steady figures for the past 12 months, the threat of a “double-dip” appears to be increasingly unlikely.

Stephen O’Donnell