03 March, 2021

At the end of 2020, we launched the 5th Annual Candidate Attraction Survey - the largest survey of its kind that provides a detailed analysis of which sourcing channels deliver the best results for recruiters within specific industries and company sizes.

We received over 800 responses from Recruiters, Talent Acquisition Specialists and a host of other roles responsible for recruitment and the UK Candidate Attraction Survey Results are in!

We’ve analysed more than 155,000 individual data points (yes, really) and can share with you how companies are attracting candidates, the challenges faced and how candidate-centric content is imperative to success and more. 
Image Right: Channel Usage for In-House Sourcing 

You can watch on-demand the 60-minute webinar delivered in partnership with HR Grapevine and download your very own copy of the 70-page report - the ultimate guide for planning your candidate attraction strategy with actionable insights.

Sourcing Challenges

Once again, candidate scarcity was named the #1 issue. However, it has seen a drop in this year’s results to 50% (previous years have seen this as high as 68%-70%).

Conversely, many recruitment teams (34%) now report they are struggling with high volumes of applications. In the report, we take a look at the industries where this issue is more prevalent.

Building a Diverse and Inclusive workforce features highly as a candidate attraction challenge for 36% of respondents.

What can we expect in the year ahead?

Over the next 12 months, 19% of respondents expect their level of hiring to decrease.
34% of recruitment teams face a reduction in their recruitment marketing budgets for the next 12 months.

The impact of recruitment marketing tactics on candidate attraction and the frequency of contact/activity is a fascinating read! Social media is the most used tactic to complement job postings – but the results often fail to meet expectations.

The types of content you have on your careers site might significantly impact the results you will get from this as a sourcing channel. Peak performing careers sites tend to have content for each stage of the candidate journey – we give a detailed overview of the types of content that work in the report.

For the first time, we look at programmatic advertising. Its usage is currently low, and it will be interesting to see how this develops over time, but, on the surface, it appears that it can have a positive impact on candidate quality and getting your jobs in front of the right people.

Get your copy of the report

This is just a summary of the survey findings, and the webinar provides an in-depth look at the results, with breakdowns by industry sector and company size. A copy of the full report is available as a free download – a whole 70 pages of sourcing channels analysis, sourcing quadrants for all industries and a comprehensive view of critical insights.

A huge thank you to all of the recruiters who took part in the survey. We hope you find the report a valuable resource for planning your talent attraction strategy for 2021 and beyond...and we also hope our lives start returning to some semblance of normality!

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