4th Annual Report

2015 India Staffing Trends

Build, engage, and recruit more by staying ahead of these industry changes

02 Introduction

Introduction

03 Executive summary

To win in 2015, search & staffing leaders need to stay

ahead of the latest trends. Technology advancements have
begun to disrupt the staffing industry, setting the stage for
a dynamic and exciting future.

04 Part 1: The staffing industry in 2015

08 Part 2: Sourcing

About this survey

We surveyed 1,993 staffing leaders in 19 countries to
understand whats keeping them up at night and where
they see the industry headed in 2015. In India, we
surveyed 202 staffing leaders. Get a head start on 2015:
tap into our insights and chart your course for success.

14 Part 3: Brand

18 Part 4: The future of staffing

India Staffing Trends

Executive summary: 2015 India staffing trends

3 must-know staffing trends to amplify your 2015 strategy

1 Organizational priorities:

2 Sources of placements:

3 Brand channels:

Acquiring new clients and being a

strategic partner to clients are the
top 2 organizational priorities.

Social professional networks have grown

over 4 years to become the #1 source of
quality hires for Indian staffing firms.

Online professional networks become

the top channel for promoting a firms
brand; firm websites and job boards
decline.

% Agree

70%

Growing our base of

new clients

45%

63%

66%

80%

72%
67%

60%

62%
60%

46%
50%

Being a strategic
partner to my clients

40%

37%
30%

20%
Improving sourcing
techniques

34%
10%
2011

Improving quality of hire

2012

2013

2014

28%
Social professional networks
Internet job boards
Internet resume databases
Employee referral programs

Think about your (talent acquisition

organization's/ firm's)top priorities for the next
12 months. Which of the following choices
would you consider to be the most important
and least important areas of interest for your
organization?

Think about the key quality hires that your

organization made in the past 12 months.
Which of the following were the most
important sources for those key positions?

0%
2012

2013

2014

Online professional networks

Our firm's website
Friends/family, word of mouth
Traditional Job Boards
Which channels or tools have you found
most effective in promoting your business?

India Staffing Trends

Part 1: The staffing industry in 2015

Part 1: The Recruiting Industry in 2015

Gap between hiring volumes and budgets decrease

Indian placement budgets and volume continue
strong growth

Investments in recruiting tools, social media, and

talent pipeline are the top competitive threats

A whopping 81% of Indian staffing leaders project a

placement budget increase. The gap between hiring volume
and budget narrows.

Significantly more Indian firms are concerned about their

competition investing in existing/new recruiting tools.

% with increase

100%
88%

82%

86%

80%
Hiring Volume

89%

81%

76%
60%

65%

64%
Hiring Budget

40%

20%
2011

2012

2013

2014

Considering only full and part-time professional employees, how do

you expect the hiring volume across your organization to change this
year?
How has your organization's budget for recruiting solutions changed
from last year?

Further invest in their

existing recruiting and/or
tools (e.g. ATS, job
boards, LinkedIn, etc.)

30%
22%

Learn to use social

networking and social
media more effectively

28%

Build and nurture strong

talent pools or pipelines

27%

Invest in new recruiting

and/or sales tools (e.g.
ATS, CRM, LinkedIn,
etc.)
India

30%

28%
27%
20%
Global

What are the things that your competitors have done or may plan on
doing that would make you most nervous?

India Staffing Trends

Part 1: The Recruiting Industry in 2015

Priorities: Top firm priorities are growing new client

base and being a strategic partner to clients
Growing new client base and being a strategic
partner to clients are top priorities

Small firms stay competitive by prioritizing client

business development and brand

Indian staffing firms prioritize improving quality of hire

significantly more than global staffing firms do

Small staffing agencies are significantly more likely to prioritize

business growth, efficiency building and brand. We define small
agencies as organizations with fewer than 10 recruiters.

45%
53%

Growing our base of new

clients

46%

India

40%

Improving sourcing
techniques

31%

34%

Improving sourcing
techniques

Recruiting/sourcing highlyskilled talent for my firm

39%

37%

Being a strategic partner to

my clients

Improving quality of hire

54%

Growing our base of

new clients

30%
28%

Investing in and
measuring our firm's
brand

19%
10%

20%
26%
24%
Global

Think about your firms top priorities for the next 12 months.
Which of the following choices would you consider to be the most
important and least important areas of interest for your
organization?

Mobile recruiting

1%
8%

Small agencies

Large agencies

Think about your firms top priorities for the next 12 months.
Which of the following choices would you consider to be the
most important and least important areas of interest for your
organization?

India Staffing Trends

Part 1: The Recruiting Industry in 2015

Obstacles: Biggest obstacle in 2015 is offer made

by the client
Offer made by the client is the #1 obstacle
Availability of quality talent and competition follow closely
as top obstacles to recruiting talent.

Smaller agencies grapple with small recruiting

team sizes. Large agencies battle the skill set
issue.

48%

Offer made by my client

(includes compensation,
role, location, etc)

34%
Recruiting team too
small

41%

13%
41%
Availability of quality talent
60%
9%
39%

Recruiting team skills

Competition

23%
45%

India

Global

What are your firm's biggest obstacles to recruiting talent?

Small agencies

Large agencies

What are your firm's biggest obstacles to attracting the best talent?

India Staffing Trends

Part 2: Sourcing

Part 2: Sourcing

Top source for quality hires: Professional networks

Social professional networks rise to become
the top source for quality hires in India

Large agencies have taken to social professional

networks slightly more than small agencies

Social professional networks are the most important and

fastest growing source of quality placements, closely
followed by job boards. Referral programs making a
comeback.

Large agencies use social professional networks to place high

quality talent. Small firms are more likely to use ATS/internal
candidate databases.

70%

63%

66%
60%

71%

46%
50%

60%

30%

29%
22%
10%

2011

2012

2013

2014

Social professional
networks

ATS/internal candidate
database

Social professional networks

Internet job boards

Large agencies

Small agencies

Internet resume databases

Employee referral programs
Think about the key quality hires that your organization
(placed/made) in the past 12 months. Which of the following were the
most important sources for those key positions?

Think about the key quality hires that your organization (placed/made)
in the past 12 months. Which of the following were the most important
sources for those key positions?

India Staffing Trends

Part 2: Sourcing

Sourcing: Social professional networks and

job boards provide best quality and quantity
Sources of hire for quality and quantity in India

% most source of quantity hires

Best quality & quantity

General
career fairs

Internet job
boards

Internet
resume
databases

Social
Professional
networks

ATS/ internal
candidate
database
Company
career
website

54%
of global staffing leaders believe
theyre not doing a good job
tracking return on investment on
sources of placements. Theres
lots of room for improvement.

Employee
Referral
programs
Company CRM
system

Print newspapers/
trade journals

% most source of quality hires

How significant were each of the following as a source of white collar professional hires
for your organization in the past 12 months? (>15% quantity of hires)
Think about the key quality hires that your organization (placed/made) in the past 12
months. Which of the following were the most important sources for those key
positions?

India Staffing Trends

10

Part 2: Sourcing

Passive candidate recruiting: India at average levels

A large majority of staffing firms recruit passive
candidates. However, India lies at global
average levels.
United Kingdom

95%

China

94%

United States

91%

Canada

89%

Southeast Asia

88%

Australia

87%

India

87%

Brazil

84%

France

84%

Nordics

82%

Netherlands

72%

Why passive candidate recruiting works

Globally, 75% of professionals consider themselves Passive.
Because availability of quality talent is the #2 obstacle to hiring
for Indian firms, its important to consider this large passive
talent pool. Use different sources to target passive versus
active candidates, and have a different message for warm
outreach.

Global Candidate Breakdown

25%
Active
75%
Passive

87%
Global
average

To what extent does your recruiting organization focus on reaching

out to passive talent? To some extent or very much so.

How would you describe your job search status?

Source: LinkedIns Talent Trends 2014 study

Active candidate definition:

Actively looking
Casually looking a few times a week

Passive candidate definition:

Reaching out to personal network

Open to talking to a recruiter
Completely satisfied; Dont want to move
India Staffing Trends

11

Part 2: Sourcing

Number of placements is the most

valuable metric for staffing firms in India
Client satisfaction, quality of placement and pipeline
of placeable candidates arent far behind in
importance.

Extract value from top

ROI sources in 2015
Next steps for your strategic planning

25%

Number of
placements

29%
24%

Client
satisfaction

28%

19%

Quality of
placement

Pipeline of
placeable
candidates

1. Arm yourself with data to stay competitive.

Use LinkedIns free Talent Pool reports on
SlideShare to size your target market and
understand talent supply & demand.
2. Consider different search tactics for passive
vs. active candidates (i.e. Boolean search
strings, indirect search, conceptual search).

18%

15%

3. Craft tailored messages to target candidates

so you can attract them after you find them.
Understand what would motivate them to
switch jobs.

7%

4. Define what ROI means for your firm and

measure it across your sources of placements.
India

Global

What is the single most valuable metric that you use to track your
recruiting team's performance today?

India Staffing Trends

12

Part 3: Brand

13

Part 3: Talent Brand

Brand: Its a priority and key to business growth

Most firms value brand

Top 5 reasons agencies invest in their brand

Most Indian staffing leaders agree that brand is a priority.

However, brand resourcing and measurement are still
catching up. Companies can get ahead by funding a
proactive brand strategy and tracking its success.

The number one reason Indian agencies invest in their brand is

due to an increase in client demand. Indian agencies are more
likely to cite this and movement into new geographies or sectors
where you haven't previously recruited as a reason to invest in
brand than global agencies. Global companies are more likely to
invest to increase awareness.

% Agree
Our brand has a significant
impact on our ability to grow our
business

78%

Our brand is a top priority for

our firm
We will increase our marketing
activities to improve our firm's
brand
Our brand has a significant
impact on our ability to engage
great talent
Those responsible for our brand
have enough resources to do it
well
We regularly measure the
health of our brand in a
quantifiable way

57%

Increase in client demand

74%

Movement into new

geographies or sectors
where you haven't

72%

Increased belief in the impact

of our firm's brand

46%
51%

36%
49%
46%

72%

44%

Increased competition

53%

40%
36%

Need to raise general

awareness

51%

50%

Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the
following statements as they relate to your firms brand.

India

Global

For what reasons are you spending more on your firms brand this year?
Directed to leaders who report spending more on brand this year.

India Staffing Trends

14

Part 3: Talent Brand

Brand: Top 4 channels for promoting it

Online professional networks grow as top
channel for promoting brand

Small and large agencies rely on online

professional networks

Firm websites and traditional job boards are steadily

declining as effective sources for promoting firm brands.

Both small and large agencies rely on social professional

networks to promote their brand, likely due to its cost
effectiveness. Large agencies differ significantly from small
agencies in relying on public recognition and awards.

80%

72%
67%
62%

68%

Online professional
networks (e.g.,
LinkedIn)

60%

78%

40%

20%

16%
Public
recognition/awards

0%
2012

2013

2014

Online professional networks

Our firm's website
Friends/family, word of mouth
Traditional Job Boards
Which channels or tools have you found most effective in promoting
your business?

6%

Large agencies

Small agencies

Which channels or tools have you found most effective in promoting

your business?

India Staffing Trends

15

Part 3: Talent Brand

Brand: Indian firms are above average in

prioritizing and acting on their brand

My company has a brand strategy

Indian firms can remain competitive by

investing in and managing their brand
Southeast
Asia
Australia India
China
Canada

US

Southeast Asian and Indian firms lead the way in

agency branding. Indian firms have an opportunity to
amplify their brand by:
Articulating your competitive advantage so
clients and candidates know why youre the best
firm for their industry, function, career, etc.

UK
France
Brazil

Netherlands

Nordics

Using cost-effective social channels to make

your brand known. Start with free LinkedIn tools
like individual recruiter profiles, your company
page, and attracting followers.
Benchmarking your brand budget against other
investments is your brand funded in line with
other priorities?
Measuring your brand using metrics like Net
Promoter Score (NPS) of your clients and
placements, company followers, # recruiters with
updated LinkedIn profiles.

Brand is a top priority for our organization

India Staffing Trends

16

Part 4: The future of staffing

17

Part 4: Predicting the Future of Recruiting

The future of staffing: Social professional networks

and sourcing passive candidates
Social professional networks and passive
candidate recruiting are here to stay

Trend spotting: Expanding emerging markets

and measuring quality of hires

Global and Indian staffing leaders agree that social

professional networks and passive candidate recruiting are
long-term trends.

The Indian staffing and recruiting industry is looking at growth.

Expanding into emerging markets, measuring quality of hires
and using big data to predict, top the charts.

67%

Utilizing social and

professional networks

Boosting referral
programs
India

35%

65%

Finding better ways to

source passive
candidates
Using an internal
database to manage
talent leads

43%

Expanding into emerging

markets

52%
59%
40%
38%
39%

Defining and measuring

the quality of our hires

29%

Using "big data" for

predicting future talent
needs

41%
31%

Improved candidate and

job matching (personality
fit, culture fit, etc.)

32%

Focusing on referrals as a
primary source of talent

Global

India

What do you consider to be the three most essential and longlasting trends in recruiting for professional roles?

42%

38%
51%
34%
31%
Global

Which of the following new and upcoming trends do you think will play
a significant role in shaping the recruiting industry for the next 5 to 10
years?

India Staffing Trends

18

Survey sampling and methodology

Survey Sample

Data Comparisons

Survey respondents are talent acquisition professionals who:

Work for a staffing firm
Represent an even mix of small, medium, and large
firms
Have at least some authority in determining their
companys recruitment solutions budget
Focus exclusively on recruiting professional hires for
clients
Survey respondents are members of LinkedIn who have
opted to participate in research studies. They were selected
based on information in their LinkedIn profile and contacted
via email.

Global comparisons are reported as un-weighted averages from the

noted countries
Historical data comparisons are taken from 2011, 2012 and 2013
Global Recruiting Trends research, which had similar sampling
criteria and methodology to 2014:
2014 survey fielded August-September 2014 with 202 US
respondents
2013 survey fielded April-May 2013 with 292 US respondents
2012 survey fielded May-July 2012 with 416 US respondents
2011 survey fielded April-June 2011 with 376 US respondents

Nordics: 100
Netherlands: 201
Canada: 201
UK: 201

France: 200

China: 100

USA: 202

India: 202

Southeast Asia: 201

Brazil: 185
Australia: 200
India Staffing Trends

19

About LinkedIn
Talent Solutions

Subscribe to our Blog: talent.linkedin.com/blog/

Follow us on Slideshare: slideshare.net/linkedin-talent-solutions

LinkedIn Talent Solutions offers
a full range of recruiting
solutions to help organizations
of all sizes find, engage, and
attract the best talent.
Founded in 2003, LinkedIn
connects the worlds
professionals to make them
more productive and successful.
With over 300 million members
worldwide, including executives
from every Fortune 500
company, LinkedIn is the worlds
largest professional network.

Follow us on Twitter: @hireonlinkedin

Follow us on You Tube: youtube.com/user/LITalentSolutions

Discover additional insights:

https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/staffing-agencies
Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/1337

India Staffing Trends

20

About the authors

Sam Gager

Rachel Bowley

Esther Cruz

Megha Nayak

Research Consultant,
LinkedIn Talent
Solutions

Research Associate,
LinkedIn Talent
Solutions

Insights and Content

Marketing Manager,
LinkedIn Talent
Solutions

Associate Field
Marketing Manager,
LinkedIn Talent
Solutions

Sam is an experienced
researcher on
LinkedIns Insights
team. He and his
colleagues uncover
data-driven insights
from LinkedIns
proprietary data.

Rachel is a statistically
savvy number cruncher
and researcher. She
powers the insights
LinkedIn generates from
its data.

Esther is passionate
about connecting
people and
opportunities. She
enjoys creating
content and disruptive
thought leadership for
the talent industry.

Megha plays enabler

in helping talent
leaders leverage the
power of LinkedIn.

India Staffing Trends 21