APAC Recruitment Agencies Accelerate Digital Transformation Strategy for the Second Year in a Row
Bullhorn’s annual recruitment industry trends survey also reveals most firms expect to increase revenue this year, despite the continued impact of Covid-19
SYDNEY, 3rd March 2022 — The last year saw a dramatic rise in the number of staffing and recruitment businesses employing a digital transformation strategy, according to Bullhorn’s 2022 Global Recruitment Insights and Data (GRID), a survey of more than 4,000 recruitment professionals.
Eighty-nine percent of recruitment firms in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region now have a digital transformation strategy in place, compared to 46% a year ago. Digital transformation adoption has more than tripled since 2019 when just 23% of firms in the region reported the presence of a digital transformation strategy.
Matt Fischer, President and COO at Bullhorn, says: “The leading staffing and recruiting firms today are focused on digital transformation to unlock new levels of productivity and truly transform the way they interact with their talent and clients. With the candidate experience at a premium, firms are leveraging automation and self-service to create talent journeys that match modern expectations and put more people to work”.
Other key GRID 2022 findings:
The industry rebounded in a major way in 2021
2020 was a historically challenging year for recruitment agencies in APAC, with two out of five reporting year-over-year revenue losses. For most agencies, 2021 represented a tremendous rebound. Two thirds (66%) of respondents reported revenue gains in 2021 and just 11% reported year-over-year losses.
Firms in APAC specialising in hiring for consultancy roles (88%) and legal roles (87%) reported the strongest performance in 2021. Government recruitment firms were on the other end of the spectrum, with just 43% of respondents reporting YoY revenue gains from 2020.
Reskilling dominates the agenda in 2022
With labour shortages biting, reskilling candidates has emerged as the top challenge for APAC recruitment firms in 2022, cited by 40% of respondents. Firms cited candidate acquisition as the top priority for the year, with candidate experience and digital transformation rounding out the top three.
Covid-19’s impact is still felt
The impact of Covid-19 on the jobs market, which was last year’s top challenge, is still the number-three challenge for APAC recruiters in 2022. Firms cited it as a contributing factor to the talent shortage as well as the top obstacle to providing an incredible candidate experience. It does not dampen their revenue outlook for 2022 however; three-quarters (75%) of APAC recruitment firms expect revenue to increase in 2022.
To read more about Bullhorn’s Global Recruitment Insights and Data research, visit the GRID site.
About Bullhorn
Bullhorn is the global leader in software for the staffing industry. More than 10,000 companies rely on Bullhorn’s cloud-based platform to power their staffing processes from start to finish. Headquartered in Boston, with offices around the world, Bullhorn is founder-led and employs more than 1,300 people globally.
Media contact:
Bob McHugh
Senior Manager, Global Content and Research, Bullhorn
bob.mchugh@bullhorn.com