27 things we didn’t know about the European labour market (part 1/2)

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A clear-cut European labour market? The bad news is it doesn’t quite exist. Just as much as you could make the argument that the job market in the US can’t be viewed as singular, Europe is renowned for hosting many cultures and subcultures across its member states. Knowing the differences and intricacies of the continent will undoubtedly help you recruit more successfully across borders. Just that was at the heart of Intelligence Group’s newest report: the European Talent Intelligence Manual 2022. 

“These surprising insights are the secrets to being successful in recruiting.”

Based on extensive research and combining that with the finest data from Eurostat, Intelligence Group recently launched the first European manual of its kind. “With the emergence of the Talent Intelligence phenomenon, local customisation in the recruitment approach can be automated”, said Geert-Jan Waasdorp, founder of the research company. “The important arguments of scalability and uniformity have to be met. These surprising insights are the secrets to being successful in recruiting. Which local job boards work? Which social media are effective ad what are the specific motivations of employees on a country-by-country basis? All the do’s and don’ts for each individual country are in there.”

The first 13 insights

So — which surprising insights does this first-ever edition of the European Talent Intelligence Manual 2022 exactly yield? We delve into 27 of them, the same number that the report has information on. 

#1. More than 320 million workers

Around 320 million people are employed across Europe, while the total population lies at 447 million. Quick maths shows that 23% play no part in the working population. Of the working population, approximately 7% is unemployed. Comparing genders, women make up 7.4% while men make up 6.7% of the total number. Sweden leads the way, with 87.3% of all inhabitants being a part of the working population. Italy, meanwhile, comes in last, with 68.2%.

Of the European working population, approximately 7% is unemployed.

#2. Least ageing in Luxembourg; most in Italy

Ageing, overall, is viewed as one of the continent’s biggest issues moving forward. While the ageing may be on the wall for Italy in the prior insight, further data backs that up. According to the report, Italy has only 2.7 potential workers among the 65+ age category. In Luxembourg that number is a continent-leading 4.8, narrowly followed by Iceland (4.5) and Ireland (4.4).

According to the report, Italy has only 2.7 potential workers among the 65+ age category.

#3. East and west: big differences in number of part-timers

The part-time culture is very common in Western Europe, but Switzerland and the Netherlands lead the charge. For both countries no less than 39% work less than 34 hours a week. The same can’t be said about the Eastern countries. In Bulgaria only 2% of the total working population works part-time , and in the rest of the Eastern Europe the percentage hardly ever exceeds 5%.

#4. Norwegians highest wage costs

At 51.10 euro’s per hour, Norwegians have the highest wage costs in the European labour market (Switzerland is excluded). Meanwhile, many of the richer countries’ wage costs lie around 37 to 42 euros per hour. Portugal (16 euros) and Croatia (11.20 euros) come out of the report as definitive low-wage countries. Bulgaria, renowned for its vast number of full-timers, comes in at a continent-low of only 7 euros per hour.

Many of the richer countries’ wage costs lie around 37 to 42 euros per hour.

#5. Women earn more in Bulgaria, Estonia and Romania

When it comes to equal pay, women earn more than men in three European countries: Bulgaria, Estonia and Romania. Several countries, meanwhile, still have work to do. Lithuania (5.14%), Czech Republic (5.07%) and Switzerland (4.99%) come off worst. The UK is at relatively high 4.68%, while the Netherlands (4.13%) is also a high scorer.

When it comes to equal pay, women earn more than men in three European countries: Bulgaria, Estonia and Romania.

#6. Romania’s 19 Big Mac’s

The Big Mac Index (as once developed by The Economist), among other things, intends to estimate the value of a currency, while showcasing the differences in prices for the same product.  It turns out that in Romania you can buy 19 Big Mac’s for 50 dollars, while you can only get 7 Big Mac’s in Switzerland for the same amount of money. Regardless, the Swiss on average earn five times as much as Romanians. 

#7. InfoJobs is Europe’s surprising number 3 job board  

It will come as little surprise that Indeed and LinkedIn are (by far) the most popular job boards in all of Europe. But with InfoJobs, the continent has a rather surprising bronze medalist, finishing in front of familiar names such as Monster and StepStone. The job board has therefore been working since 1998 in (mainly) Spain and Italy to steer the vacancy traffic in the right direction.

#8. The Swedes love LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s high usage across European’s working population is as clear-cut as it comes, but Sweden leads the overall usage number when it comes to job search. In the land of IKEA, approximately 52% of job seekers search for a job on LinkedIn. The Netherlands (43%) is also LinkedIn-savvy. Meanwhile, Belgium (14%), the UK (18%), Germany (11%), Austria (9%) and Slovakia (3%) clearly rely much less on one of the world’s most-popular social networks and job sites. 

In the land of IKEA, approximately 52% of job seekers search for a job on LinkedIn.

#9. Indeed popular in UK; not so much in Baltic region

Indeed’s shares are spread evenly. Atop the list is the United Kingdom, with 74% of job seekers seeking Indeed. France (61%) and Germany (58%) round off the top three. Meanwhile, it appears the Baltic region and certain Scandinavian countries don’t care much for Indeed. In countries such as Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bulgaria, but also Denmark and Finland, Indeed appears to be almost entirely absent.

It appears the Baltic region and certain Scandinavian countries don’t care much for Indeed.

#10. Iceland excels at word processing

Are you looking for people who can do word processing? Then your best bet is Iceland. 78% of Iceland’s working population say they are skilled at word processing, more than any other country in Europe. The Netherlands is also doing well with 71%.

#11. Finland’s photoshop skills

While Iceland seems the chosen destination for word processpors, the Finns seem to excel in another digital skill: photo editing. Renowned for its majestic landscapes, it should come as little that 54% of Finland’s working population says it is skilled at editing photos. It leads the way in Europe, with Austria (46%), the Netherlands (45%) and Luxembourg (44%) rounding off the top four. 

#12. Germany’s the favourite destination

Germany is the most popular (25%) country for immigrants, but people also like living and working in Spain (20%), France (17%) and the UK (17%). 

#13. London, Paris and Berlin still lead the way

In terms of favourite cities to relocate to, London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome and Madrid lead the way. Amsterdam, renowned for housing HQ’s, is rated on a similar level as the capital of Austria, Vienna. When asked where they might want to work, if they were going to work abroad, Europeans were more likely to answer New York and Sydney.

This article is part one of a two-part series into the 27 eye-opening insights stemming from Intelligence Group’s European Talent Intelligence Manual 2022. Look out for the next article in the coming week, with the remaining 14 insights. 

Hays brand refresh: staffing firm eyes transition to HR and Talent services

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In lieu of shifts virtually everywhere in the field of work and recruitment, Hays, the sixth-largest global staffing firm according to Staffing Industry, has recently announced a brand re-shift. Hays’ transition will see it aim to bring an integrated suite of services, including workplace solutions, MSP and RPO, alongside specialist recruitment, to help its clients grow and maintain their competitive advantages in this new era of work.

The company added that it sees its role as a leadership partner, working alongside its customers to solve the complex workplace issues so relevant in the world today. That includes helping its clients design and implement strategies to create inclusive and equitable workplaces, delivering insights through the power of its people data to support clients in their decision making and providing advice on how to access Talent Networks that deliver the best fit for their business.

‘Drastic changes’

Alistair Cox, Hays Chief Executive, calls the transition ‘on of the proudest moments in his 14-year career at the company’. “Individuals and society now demand different things at work. The role businesses are expected to play in a future, sustainable world, has rightly increased. The rapid increase in digitalisation has forced profound change in the way we work and the skills that workforces need to succeed. With all this change, Hays has also evolved dramatically as a business to address the new challenges our customers – both candidates and employers – are facing.”

“Our old strapline, Recruiting experts worldwide, clearly no longer tells the full Hays story as we do so much more already in solving talent challenges.”

During 2021, the company undertook comprehensive research, speaking to clients, non-clients, and candidates globally to understand their perception of what the company does well, where it could improve and what they really wanted and needed from them as a partner. “With this feedback, and as the world of work continued to change and we changed with it, we realised it was only right for us to also evolve our brand”, Cox said. “Our old strapline, Recruiting experts worldwide, clearly no longer tells the full Hays story as we do so much more already in solving talent challenges. Now we are ready to share this exciting change with our customers.”

Simplified structure

Alistair Cox

As part of its brand refresh, Hays is also consolidating its sub-brands. Simplifying its structure and revamping its brand messaging so ‘customers will all benefit from the full power of Hays’ capability locally and globally’. The move aims to connect all areas of its business to enable better sharing of knowledge, continual enhancement of the suite of services that are available to customers and deliver a more personalised experience.

“This next phase of our own evolution is designed to better solve these challenges for our clients and candidates.”

“Hays sits at the heart of what economies need most to thrive – talented workforces – and we know that the creation, development and retention of workforces is becoming more complex”, said Cox. “Our business is all about people, so this next phase of our own evolution is designed to better solve these challenges for our clients and candidates. By doing so, we aim to help more businesses and the people in them to succeed in this rapidly changing world of work.”

“What we’re doing now will define our success as a business for years to come.”

“It is an exciting time to be part of Hays, what we’re doing now will define our success as a business for years to come”, Cox continued. “The unique scale, breadth and depth of Hays’ knowledge and expertise worldwide makes us stronger in the market than ever before. Bringing the full power of our insights and capability to each customer in an integrated and customer-centric way will create a formidable platform for our own growth.”

Header image credit: Hays

How background checks can serve as the first line of defence to avoid bad hires

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As finding the right talent can quite literally feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, whenever you do identify what you deem is the right candidate for a position, it’s hard not to get too far ahead of yourself. Not to place doubt inside your mind or the minds of your recruiters — but there’s always a chance that the person you deem the perfect candidate, ends up being a bad hire.

And when that happens. The consequences are endless. Financially, you have the cost of off-boarding, which can escalate rather quickly if it’s not a smooth departure. Then you have the cost of recruiting, hiring and training of the person who’ll come in as the replacement. Add in the costs you’ve already made to hire that person in the first place, and it quickly becomes a sober affair.

The consequences are endless

The buck doesn’t stop there, though, according to a recent white paper by Sterling. There’s more at risk. In 2018, an astonishing 50% of UK companies experienced fraud, of which 33% were committed by internal perpetrators. Of which half were committed by senior management. “The total cost? At a high-level, it’s estimated that the overall cost of occupational fraud worldwide amounts to €3.7 trillion”, the white paper states.

“50% of managers believe that increased workload for colleagues is the most significant impact of a poor hiring decision.”

Legal troubles could also ensue. Because if your employee took actions or performed their duties contrary to instructions or expectations, organisations may be held vicariously liable in civil court. Add in the negative attention through social media— which can harm a company brand whether it’s true or not. And finally, it can have a serious impact on employee morale and the general culture around a company. “50% of managers believe that increased workload for colleagues is the most significant impact of a poor hiring decision, followed by increased stress on colleagues and lost productivity”, the white paper states.”

Screening as the first line of defence

Most bad hires stem from a common enemy in recruitment practices: time. Or rather, a lack thereof. Future employees, especially in the current climate, are usually pushed through quickly to ensure the company does not lose the chance of acquiring them. That’s where your first line of defence comes in: screening.

“Your policy should outline your objectives, processes, types of background checks for each position and how the results will affect hiring decisions.”

“The first step to making a good hiring decision is to implement a background screening policy”, the white paper says. “Your policy should outline your objectives, processes, types of background checks for each position and how the results will affect hiring decisions. Be sure to consult appropriate legal counsel to ensure your policy is fully compliant with local regulatory guidelines.”

“A background check should only investigate the aspects of a candidate’s past that are relevant to the position.”

Whether through criminal record checks, reference interviews, credit orders, employment verifications, education and credential verifications or motor vehicle checks — there are many ways of finding out whether a person is who he or she says they are. “A background check should only investigate the aspects of a candidate’s past that are relevant to the position”, the report states. “For example, if a candidate will not have any financial responsibility, a credit check may be excessively intrusive.”

‘A flag is not indicative of a bad hire’

Then lies an important step with interpreting the background check. Whether it’s covering up that their time at another employer didn’t work out, or the fact that they’ve been dealing with a personal or medical issue they didn’t want to draw any attention to — white lies are always to be found on CV’s. But a flag is not always indicative of a bad hire, the company adds. “It simply means that additional review is warranted and the situation should be considered as part of the hiring process”, Sterling adds.

“Should the candidate have been more forthcoming? Probably. But is it worth passing up a great candidate? That’s for you to decide.”

Finally, by outsourcing screening services to a third-party provider, it adds value to the objectivity of the process. Or, in other terms: it puts the employer at arm’s length from the background investigation. “While some more serious flags will make it difficult to move forward with a candidate, it is always worthwhile to discuss the information with your candidate to fully understand the circumstances before making a decision. Should the candidate have been more forthcoming? Probably. But is it worth passing up a great candidate? That’s for you to decide.”

About Sterling

Sterling is a leading provider of background and identity services. They help over 40,000 clients create people-first cultures built on foundations of trust and safety. Sterling’s tech-enabled services help organisations across all industries establish great environments for their workers, partners, and customers. With operations around the world, Sterling conducts more than 70 million background checks annually.

Download the full white paper

Before you hand over the employment contract, it’s important to consider the consequences of a bad hire. Unfortunately, the aftermath that follows affects far more than terminating the employee and filling the vacancy. In this white paper, Sterling explores the risks associated with poor hiring decisions and the steps you can take to avoid the dreaded bad hire. Download it here.

Why these 11 Talent Intelligence solutions will transform recruitment

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The Mona Lisa has been viewed by millions of visitors all over the world. But as visitors go through their selfie-taking motions at the L’Ouvre, they have likely missed one, crucial bit of information. La Giocanda is actually unfinished. Da Vinci never actually finished the background of the world’s most-famous painting. In a nutshell: you don’t know, what you don’t know.

Da Vinci never actually finished the background of the world’s most-famous painting. In a nutshell: you don’t know, what you don’t know.

Much of the same could be said about the way recruitment practices currently operate. They base their strategies on the things they know. Such as LinkedIn, employment agencies, additional recruiters and referrals. While there’s nothing wrong with that, those sources largely consist of information that’s known. After all, you can’t base a strategy on something you don’t know. Or can you?

Enter Talent Intelligence

Enter one of recruitment’s newest buzzwords: talent intelligence. Kevin Wheeler recently dubbed it one of the branche’s biggest trends. “Talent intelligence refers to the process where companies use AI to collect and analyse data regarding the talent and skills they need now and in the future”, Wheeler said in a recent presentation. “It helps you keep a hold of where the talent we need is working, what specific skills they have and what might entice them to work for you?”

“Talent intelligence refers to the process where companies use AI to collect and analyse data regarding the talent and skills they need now and in the future.”

Kevin Wheeler

That’s the type of information recruiters need, according to Wheeler. In a nutshell, talent intelligence is compiled out of target group, recruitment and labour market data — all external sources. In contrast to the internal data, such as Hotjar, Google Analytics and internal ATS data, that is currently the go-to data among recruiters. Talent intelligence solutions include features to focus on recruiting, talent management, or both. AI interactions allow businesses, HR personnel, and recruiters alike to further define the solution based on their business’ needs.

“Who you you work for? Who’s your boss? How many people are in your function? Now, through technology, we’re able to globalise this process.”

Weirdly enough, Wheeler saw talent intelligence occurring years ago in Silicon Valley. “Many recruiters used to spend loads of time in carparks, restaurants and café’s”, he said. “They’d ask random people random questions, to build up a picture of who’s working where: Who you you work for? Who’s your boss? How many people are in your function? Now, through technology, we’re able to globalise this process.”

Source: Kevin Wheeler, 2022

11 companies at the forefront of the charge

The technology is readily available for any interested parties that want to construct a picture of the talent pool. We’ve delved into the wondrous world of talent intelligence and amassed a list of 11 solutions that are at the forefront of the charge.

1. Gartner: Talent Neuron

Gartner’s TalentNeuron combines big data and statistical insights to provide global talent, location and competitive intelligence for any industry or function.

2. Intelligence Group

Intelligence Group is the European market leader in Talent Intelligence. They provide data-driven labour market solutions for understanding supply & demand, and targeted recruitment marketing for employers and recruiters.

3. LinkedIn Talent Insights

LinkedIn Talent Insights is a talent intelligence platform that empowers you to make smart workforce and hiring decisions. They provide real-date data on supply and demand, as well as on-demand, simple talent intelligence tool, among other things.

4. Reejig

Reejig’s workforce intelligence platform provides 100% visibility of your people’s skills, potential, passions and experiences, creating a central nervous system for all talent decisions.

5. Gem

Gem’s talent engagement platform enables recruiting teams to build relationships that lead to diverse, high-quality talent pipelines, a great candidate experience, and predictable hiring at any scale.

6. SeekOut

SeekOut provides talent acquisition professionals with a comprehensive 360-degree view of candidates, coupled with a powerful AI-powered talent search.

7. Eightfold

Eightfold AI is a Talent Intelligence Platform that helps organisations hire, retain, and grow a diverse workforce. The platform is built on unsiloing all people data within an enterprise, matching on ability and using AI to predict future roles.

8. Textkernel

Textkernel is the international leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Semantic Technology for matching people and jobs.

9. hireEz

hireEZ is an AI-powered outbound recruitment platform that aims to help recruiters break free from outdated recruiting systems and help jobs find people. With hireEZ, organisations can execute a strategically scalable approach to build future workforces.

10. Jobdigger

Jobdigger collects all online published vacancies on the Dutch web and converts them into comprehensible and applicable labour market information.

11. Daxtra Technologies

Daxtra Technologies is a specialist in high-accuracy, multilingual resume and job parsing, semantic search, matching and recruitment automation.

Should you be paying candidates for a job interview?

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Picture a 27-year-old single woman. Let’s call her Monique. Monique’s been keen on a new job for quite some time now, looking to leave her 32-hour-a-week gig working in a local coffeehouse behind her. After all, all she’s ever wanted to was to work in the field she’s most passionate about: marketing. When she finally found the ideal position for a junior position at a marketing firm, about an hour away from her, she jumped at the chance.

First, she had to fill out a questionnaire and re-gather an updated CV. She did so, happily. Then the firm sent her a marketing assessment, to see if she’d be suitable for the first stage of the interview. Monique passed with flying colours, leading to a first, official interview at the company’s headquarters. After taking the morning off work, Monique felt great about her chances on the bus-ride home. The phone rang a day later: she’d graduated to the second interview. Another morning off. Another lengthy bus-ride. About a week later, the phone rang again. Monique received the news that she didn’t progress to the third and final stage of the interview, but the company would ‘absolutely keep her in mind for future positions’.

Hobbyism or labour?

Most applicants are generally pleased if their travel expenses are covered. But that doesn’t take into account the hours they put into preparing for a job application or the questionnaires they have to fill out. Those hours are often filed under the hobbyism that comes with a job application. They want that new job yourself, don’t they? That’s often the prevailing thought. Until now — as Canada-based Foodshare Toronto aims to break recruitment traditions by paying applicants.

“When you prepare for an interview, that is labour.”

FoodShare Toronto pays applicants $75 for every job interview they have with the organisation. “When you prepare for an interview, that is labour”, CEO Paul Taylor told local news station City News. “It is labour that we feel employers have expected candidates to pay for, for a long time. It’s kind of outrageous. Especially when you think about it as a situation where the employer is the one with the resources and the power.”

The cost of taking time off work

Taylor and FoodShare have now doubled-down on the notion that people sometimes have to take time off from work in order to apply. To help them, FoodShare sends all of its questions at least two days in advance. “From an equity perspective, this is going to help folks who have already been made vulnerable by systems and public policies. By simply recognising that there are costs to applying.”

“This recognises the value of the time they’re investing in the process.”

Tricia Williams, research director at the Future Skills Center, sees FoodShare’s initiative as a larger shift in the labour market. “There is more power to applicants and employees in the current labour market”, she said. “This recognises the value of the time they’re investing in the process. A policy like this ensures that the relationship between employer and candidate is started in a respectful way.”

Not everyone is keen on paying candidates

Not all experts are too keen on the strategy of paying candidates for their time, however. “It’s a knee-jerk reaction to people not showing up for interviews”, said Juan Pablo González, sector leader for professional services at Korn Ferry. “It’s missing the point. If they’re trying to engage employees to become part of their organizations, they really need to think about their why. Getting candidates into seats has no bearing on whether those candidates stay in those seats.”

Rather than paying for interviewees, Korn Ferry’s David Vied sees another likely outcome. “I think a backlash is going to come at some point because employers are not going to stand for prima donna behaviour like ghosting”, he told the Korn Ferry website. He instead suggests that HR managers distill job descriptions down to their most essential elements and hire accordingly. “Companies will likely reconfigure the workforce to do without that hire.”

Paying European candidates

There have been similar initiatives in Europe — but mainly in markets where talent is scarce anyway. Moreover, it quickly became more of a publicity stunt, rather than a form of ideology or fairness. When a Dutch IT company sought new Java and Microsoft developers in 2004, it offered to pay prospective employees €5 per minute for an interview. More recently, in Germany’s IT branche, Deutsche Familienverschicherung offered €500 for anyone who interviewed for a vacancy, as reported by the Financial Times.

Read more:

Kevin Wheeler: ‘If you can’t learn that it’s a candidate market, you’re going to continue to lose’

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Kevin Wheeler is an authority when it comes to recruitment and labour market trends. For several decades, the Founder and President of The Future of Talent Institute has researched the future of work, talent acquisition and learning. Wheeler then turns that around into actionable insights for some of the world’s leading organisations and start-ups, in order for them to improve their TA and learning processes.

Wheeler presented four major trends currently taking place to an audience of several senior leaders active in the area of Talent Acquisition and Employer Branding. “Firstly, younger workers are demanding more flexibility and choice, leading to a shift to smaller and agile firms”, he said. “Secondly, we have fewer older workers due to general ageing, early retirements and changes in lifestyle. Thirdly, More workers are moving to gig work and a lifestyle of choice. Finally, simply put: more automation. The more expensive it gets, the more we try to automate.”

A new focus on skills and networks

“At the moment, we mainly hire people for showing up”, Wheeler continued. “We are finding that credentials aren’t very meaningful, so this is where the shift is taking place to a more skills and network-oriented strategy. Wherein we ask a simple question: ‘What can you do to contribute to our company?’. Every move used to require a degree or experience, now it’s all about testing. If you pass the test, we’ll hire you.”

“Now it is up to recruiters to find a way to better assess skills.”

Where Google once used to rely heavily on only hiring top-of-class from the very best universities — their methods have shifted in recent years, Wheeler said. “Economically, it’s not paying off for people in the US to go to university. Unless you get a scholarship, it’s not worth it. And Google are agreeing with that, with a sense of ‘if you can write code, we’ll hire you’ type of mentality. Now it is up to recruiters to find a way to better assess skills.”

‘We have a talent philosophy issue’

It is part of what Wheeler describes as part of a common ‘talent philosophy issue’. “We have grown used to a talent surplus world as our norm, with enough people knocking on the door”, he said. “We used to control the conversation with conditions and salary, but the world of recruitment has completely changed. Five years ago I said it was becoming a candidate market, it absolutely is today. If you can’t learn that, you’re going to continue to lose.”

“Five years ago I said it was becoming a candidate market, it absolutely is today.”

The issues go way beyond recruiting, Wheeler argued. “We have to step back — and think about what our philosophy will be going forward. Younger workers are demanding things we never demanded. Hiring managers and recruiters are continuing to struggle to deal with those demands. Established companies are all experiencing the same significant challenges.”

Becoming a modern workforce

Part of what Wheeler sees as the route to becoming a modern workforce, is having conversations about what it is that younger workers desire — and how it is currently being advertised. “So many conversations are just about hiring full-time, but the question companies are not asking is which jobs are which? How many could be part-time, or some-time? Are we hiring consultants, or are we just going to go the route of full-timers only? And what is the criteria for that decision? We need to start having these conversations.”

“The question companies are not asking is which jobs are which? How many could be part-time, or some-time?”

For those familiar with Wheeler’s work, through his Future of Talent newsletters or blogs, know that he is a man who doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to work-related predictions. He is a leading voice when it comes to the future of automation. “Many HR departments aren’t currently asking the question: ‘Is this a job we will automate, or not?’. And it may not be a question you ask now, but if you’ll work in recruiting in more than ten years, that will be a big question. Most jobs could very easily be robotised.”

More insights?

Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the field of total talent acquisition with the ToTalent Newsletter. Every month you will receive the latest news from the profession in your mailbox.

Europe’s top job boards for 2022: ‘Indeed and LinkedIn dominate Western, but not Eastern Europe’

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Europe has been — and likely always will be — a fragmented continent. Whether through cultures or legislation, countries generally vary greatly. When studying labour markets across the continent, the fragmentation holds up. While one country could have one job board ranked top of the list, that very same job board could have a marginal score in a neighbouring country, but most likely no position at all.

“This decade, job boards will still dominate the European job market.”

Intelligence Group has delved into labour markets and orientation channels through an extensive study among 99.175 respondents. With its European Talent Intelligence Manual 2022, which is set to be released on 23 June, 2022, the data company aims to provide a full picture of the Europe’s state when it comes to all things job boards. “This decade, job boards will still dominate the European job market”, says Geert-Jan Waasdorp, founder and CEO of Intelligence Group. “But their impact will continue to differ enormously in every country, as well as the composition between job boards, aggregators, social media, Google and agencies.”

Indeed’s #1 position in Europe

According to Intelligence Group’s 2022 survey, Indeed is the European market leader as most-named and preferred job board. “Indeed has a strong position in Western Europe, particularly in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Germany”, Geert-Jan Waasdorp, founder and CEO of Intelligence Group says. “In Italy too, a lot of work goes through Indeed.”

The argument could therefore be made that Indeed is Europe’s market leader, be it not for the fact that the leading job board company plays a very little or even no role in various Eastern European countries, some Scandinavian countries — as well as Spain and Portugal. “These are countries where local job boards heavily dominate”, Waasdorp adds.

Source: Intelligence Group. European Talent Intelligence Manual 2022

LinkedIn’s #2 position in Europe

LinkedIn, the consensus number two job board in Europe, has a particularly strong position in North-West Europe, according to Intelligence Group’s survey. With peaks in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Latvia and Italy — though it still usually trails Indeed in those countries. In past years, LinkedIn had a relatively strong position in the UK — but that position has since weakened, according to the survey.

“LinkedIn is increasingly becoming a sourcing channel and talent is leaving LinkedIn because they’re being spammed by recruiters. The development in UK may indicate that LinkedIn is past its peak.”

“Overall the percentages lie at 74% for Indeed and 18% for LinkedIn for the UK”, says Waasdorp. “There could be several reasons for this, such as the fact that LinkedIn is dominated by white collar workers, which is only a small part of the working population. LinkedIn is increasingly becoming a sourcing channel and talent is leaving LinkedIn because they’re being spammed by recruiters. The development in UK may indicate that LinkedIn is past its peak.”

Source: Intelligence Group. European Talent Intelligence Manual 2022

The top five job boards ranked in two or more countries

Beyond first-placed Indeed as the overall top choice for job board in Europe, it is trailed by second-placed LinkedIn. Intelligence Group named a top five of job boards that are available and preferred in two countries or more. Infojobs, which continues to be among the most preferred job boards in Italy and is Spain’s consensus number one choice, ranks third. Monster does well in Finland, Germany and France, ensuring fourth place. Stepstone, popular in Germany and Austria, rounds off the top five.

‘There isn’t one clear job board for all of Europe’

Despite the fact that Indeed and LinkedIn score well overall, Intelligence Group’s European Talent Intelligence Manual 2022 indicates that there isn’t one clear-cut answer for Europe’s job seekers. “Most countries have their own local winner”, says Waasdorp. Some players appear in two or more countries, but they can be counted on one hand. Such as StepStone, Jobrapido, Infojobs and Monster.”

“Agencies such as Adecco, Manpower and Randstad have the potential to dethrone Indeed and LinkedIn.”

“In addition to these job boards, a number of large temporary employment agencies such as Adecco, Manpower and Randstad also play a role with their recruitment sites”, Waasdorp continues. “But these agencies have the potential to dethrone Indeed and LinkedIn. With the developments around the gig economy and the growth of these agencies, that could very well happen in the future. Although Monster and Randstad’s marriage did not work out well.”

“Despite raising millions in venture capital, talent.com were only known among one in about thousand job seekers.”

As far as future winners, Waasdorp sees Spanish unicorn Jobandtalent as a key, potential new kid on the block that could disrupt the market. “But they’re not yet mentioned in the report. It proves how hard it is to break through in Europe. Just look at another company, a website like talent.com. Despite raising millions in venture capital, they were only known among one in about thousand job seekers.”

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Private investment firm Bain Capital acquires majority stake (55%) in House of HR

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House of HR was founded in 1995 under the Accent Jobs umbrella, and has subsequently grown into a European powerhouse, with over 4300 internal employees and offices in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany. Moreover it has recruitment agencies in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Spain, amongst others. Its sales topped a staggering €2.2 billion in 2021, placing over 57,000 people each month across small, medium and large companies.

Its multi-brand strategy has also proven to be a great success, enabling it to be profitable in every sense of the word. The company’s portfolio includes digital student matching platform NOWJOBS and freelance matching form Gighouse, among others. And its success hasn’t gone unnoticed. On May 28th, the news broke that investment firm Bain Capital Private Equity has acquired a 55% stake in the company. With that, the investment firm naturally becomes the majority shareholder. No terms have been announced, but Belgian newspaper HLN estimates the amount lies between 2.5 and 3 billion euros.

‘A dream come true’

Founder Conny Vandendriessche will stay on as a minority shareholder and will continue to serve in her role as board member. “I am really very happy that House of HR has found a new majority shareholder, that, like Naxicap did in the last 10 years, really understands the entrepreneurial and human centric DNA of the company”, she said. It has been a dream come true for me to see that House of HR turned into an international group that was born from 1 Accent office in Roeselare.”

“It has been a dream come true for me to see that House of HR turned into an international group that was born from 1 Accent office.”

“We intend to continue our growth path, based on strong organic growth combined with targeted and specialised M&A in existing markets, DACH countries and the Nordics”, CEO Rika Coppens added in a press release. “With Bain Capital’s investment in House of HR, we start a new chapter in our incredible story.”

Bain Capital’s tech and HR portfolio

It isn’t the first large European investment by Bain Capital. Earlier, in January, the investment firm purchased European tech sector by purchasing French IT services Inetum in a deal worth approximately 2 billion euros. There could be a parallel between the two deals — beyond the fact that they’re market leaders in their own respect. Inetum provides services spanning IT consultancy, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and infrastructure in more than 26 countries.

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These are the three emerging skills issues of the UK (and any other) workforce

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With the record number of open vacancies seemingly being broken every month, the United Kingdom’s labour market is at a critical juncture. “Two years on from the outbreak of the pandemic, we are emerging into a new world”, said John Kleeman, founder of UK-based online assessment platform Questionmark. “Given the speed and volume of workplace flux, it should perhaps come as no surprise that there is a crucial lack of modern skills among the UK workforce.”

“Two years on from the outbreak of the pandemic, we are emerging into a new world.”

Questionmark founder John Kleeman

That’s why Questionmark commissioned research agency YouGov to conduct omnibus research among a panel of 2000 adults in the UK, who were either in work or looking for work. The research seeks to help employers determine their priorities for skills development and to illuminate the barriers that are preventing team members developing the skills they need. Within the report, Questionmark found three emerging issues when it comes to skills (or the lack thereof) of the UK workforce.

Issue 1: Sober skill scores

Some workers are more aware of the skills problem than others. Questionmark found that almost a third of those questioned (30%) strongly agreed that they do not have the skills required to deal with the workplace today. But the problem is far more widespread than that, the report states. “Only three of the ten skills the World Economic Forum predicts businesses will require by 2025 are confidently possessed by more than half of UK workers.”

Only 13% of respondents stating they believe they possess technology design and programming.

Confidently, in this phrase, meaning an above average score of 55%. While reasoning, problem-solving and ideation (72%), resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility (57%) and critical thinking and analysis (55%) will all be vital to the future of work, the general consensus is sober. Particularly technology design and programming looks set to be an even larger issue than it already is today — with only 13% of respondents stating they believe they possess that skill.

Source: Questionmark

Issue 2: The jargon used in offices

Part of the gap between business priorities and the skills needed to execute them is down to the language and jargon used around workplace skills and strategies, Questionmark says. “Phrases such as big data and digital transformation are increasingly prevalent in office culture. Yet almost a third (31%) of respondents claim to be confused by the former. With over a fifth (21%) confounded by the latter. Some 18% find ambiguous the instruction to be more agile. More than one in ten (12%) are unsure what’s expected of them when asked to display critical thinking.”

24% said they are too embarrassed to ask (what the jargon means).

It leads to situations wherein workers rarely benefit, the report states. 31% of respondents claimed they were increasingly unlikely to ask for help. While 42% of workers said they preferred to try and find out for themselves. 24% said they are too embarrassed to ask (what the jargon means). Finally, 18% said they don’t want to be perceived as old-fashioned or out of touch.

Issue 3: Generic workplace training

The idea behind workplace training is great. The execution? Not so much. According to Questionmark, there are far too many generic development programmes that are failing to hit the spot. Just 15% of people claimed to remember a lot of the content of a workplace training course six months later. 20% found workplace training too general and not job-role specific. While over a third (36%) confessed that much of the knowledge had faded.

Just 15% of people claimed to remember a lot of the content of a workplace training course six months later.

‘The majority of UK workers is unaware’

Without the modern skills to face the future, businesses will struggle to compete, the report states. “The UK economy as a whole will suffer. In conclusion, it’s not too far-fetched to state that the majority of UK workers is unaware of the scale of reskilling they require. This makes it harder for employers to understand the extent of the skills gap across their own workforce. This problem is confounded by confusing language around skills and business priorities. Employees are unlikely to admit that they don’t understand what is really needed of them.”

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Jim Carroll: ‘All recruiters need to become futurists’

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Few people get into as many interesting places as futurist Jim Carroll. The Ontario, Canada-native has made a living advising companies such as Disney, Nikon, Volvo, Pfizer — and many others — on anything related to trends and innovation. His keynotes tend to be an experience. He joined the 2022 edition of the E-recruitment Congress from his remote video studio, built into the basement of his house, he started by speaking about all the changes that have occurred during the past pandemic-filled years.

“COVID has accelerated the speed of change. Mainly virtual change.”

“You simply couldn’t get away from virtual”, he said as his green-screen enabled him to visibly appear from New York City and a Belgian beach. “These past years have completely changed our relationship with the world, employees and employers. I’ve spent a lot of time on a lot of stages around the world outlining what happens in the world where we need to think big, start small and scale fast. But COVID has accelerated the speed of change. Mainly virtual change”, Carroll said, as he travelled back to his virtual studio.

Jim Carroll’s exclusively-built green screen studio

Then the curtains unravelled from the stage in Ostend, Belgium. Several green-screens appeared out of the darkness. There he stood: Jim Carroll.

Then the curtains unravelled from the stage in Ostend, Belgium. Several green-screens appeared out of the darkness. There he stood: Jim Carroll. Not from his house in Canada — but on the actual stage. Proving to an audience of recruiters and talent leaders, who had initially perhaps felt disappointed Carroll wasn’t there physically, that technology has changed fast.

‘Digital presence matters’

“In case you didn’t realise, the world is now a fundamentally different place”, Carroll continued. “We’re in a situation where companies that not yet exist will build products not yet conceived, using materials not yet invented. How are you going to recruit people for that reality? The future is that I can’t keep up with the change of trends. Science-fiction ideas are real before you realise it. In 2020, in as little as 6 months, we saw 10 years worth of change.”

“How are you going to be an employer of choice if you don’t have the digital presence?”

“A lot of the excuses disappeared when COVID struck”, Carroll said. “Because ‘get it done’ became the rallying cry. Now the future belongs to those who are even faster due to digital transformation. You all thought I was in Canada. The way we present ourselves to the world, the image we put out there, matters. But how are you going to be an employer of choice if you don’t have the digital presence? How can you attract a generation that is completely digital in everything they do?”

Your boss thinks you have no long-term vision if you don’t turn your camera on during Zoom meetings.”

It is all part of what Carroll sees a greater digital good. “Your boss thinks you have no long-term vision if you don’t turn your camera on during Zoom meetings”, he said. “They think if you’re not engaged virtually, then you’re not a good employee. That’s why digital presence matters. You need to show digital professionalism. I always use the same mantra: think big, start small and scale fast.”

‘Recruiters need to become futurists’

Many recruiters currently live in the reality that has been dubbed The Great Resignation, The Great Re-Shuffle — or something else that has been less than great for getting people into jobs. “It’s nothing new”, Carroll said. “COVID simply accelerated a trend that was already taking place. The future happens slowly, and then all at once. You need to be prepared for that. Change is happening so quickly, you need to recruit people for jobs you don’t yet know exist. You need to be prepared for that reality yesterday.”

“Change is happening so quickly, you need to recruit people for jobs you don’t yet know exist.”

“You need to become futurists”, Carroll continued. “You need to learn how to predict the future when it comes to rapid knowledge obsolescence and rapid knowledge emergence. To put it into context: the medical knowledge used to double every eight years; that number is now down to 78 days. You need to deliver knowledge for people who don’t yet know they need that knowledge.”

“Careers are disappearing and new ones are popping up. How will you recruit for those jobs?”

Whether you’ll source for virtual farming infrastructure managers, robotic pharmaceutical therapy monitors, water footprint analysts or drone helicopter insurance crop risk managers — you need what Carroll calls ‘just-in-time knowledge’. “We’re amidst a big evolution of new skills and trades. Careers are disappearing and new ones are popping up. How will you recruit for those jobs?”

‘People might simply not want to be recruited’

But as scarcity persists, recruiters are still chasing those they need to recruit. Therein lies the another lesson, according to Carroll: they may simply not want to be recruiter. “I’m 63, and my generation defines itself based on what we do for a living. When I asked a 22-year old snowboarder kid why he wasn’t interested in a job opportunity, he gave me a simple answer: ‘Because you’re messing with my powder, dude.’ The fact is: they don’t define themselves by their job, they define themselves in what they like to do.”

“I’m 63, and my generation defines itself based on what we do for a living.”

In that context, everything is transactional, Carroll said. “They will simply move to any position that will give them a better monetary reward. Many of them are already thinking of a new job during their very first day. More and more see the added-value of self-employment. Moreover, they think 2 to 5 years in an organisation is a long-term career. Does someone give them a better offer? They’re gone…”

“They don’t care about the name of the company. They want to enjoy what they do.”

So where does employer branding fit in, according to Carroll? “Your corporate brand has had to change and evolve in recent years. You could call your organisation ‘digital’ and ‘hybrid’, but when you want everyone back in the office, you’re not digital, or hybrid. From that point-of-view, they don’t care about the name of the company. They want to enjoy what they do. If they’re on TikTok, go create short, sharp shots of insight there. A digital presence is everything.”

‘They don’t want to go back to the office’

As leadership discussions take place of adopting full-time remote, hybrid or just back-to-the-office models, Carroll sees a fundamental shift in what the younger generation wants. “They have no desire to go back into the office because they’ve tasted freedom. They have no desire to be part of the traditional workforce. We have leaders who want us to go back to 2019. That is just not going to happen.”

“The younger generation has no desire to go back into the office because they’ve tasted freedom.”

“I think the final result will have to be some type of hybrid in lieu of the workback pushback”, Carroll continued. “I think the truth is found in the snowboarder, who gets up every morning and goes for a run. Then puts in four solid hours, goes for a walk during the afternoon — and puts in another solid three hours. That’s the new reality. Meetings and events can be used as corporate team-building exercises, but the corporate culture will have changed — and evolved.”

“It’s all about contract work, part-time relationships, and external partnerships. This is not a new trend.”

In conclusion, Carroll recalls being stunned when he read a New York Times article in 1987, which predicted a future wherein organisations would become smaller and become something fundamentally different. “Fast forward to today’s economy: organisations are going to go forward with a smaller employee footprint”, Carroll continued. “They’re expanding and contracting as necessary. It’s all about contract work, part-time relationships, and external partnerships. This is not a new trend.”

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Could digital identity checks mark the end of CVs and references?

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Like most countries located in Continental Europe — or indeed the world — the United Kingdom currently faces a rare scenario wherein it has more job vacancies than unemployed people. As the unemployment rate fell to a 50-year low 3.7% between January and March of 2020, job openings rose to a new record-high of 1.3 million.

“The progress made in digital identity checks a clear step in the right direction for the market.”

“With skills shortages rife across the UK, businesses simply cannot afford to lose prospective new hires in complex compliance processes”, said Steve Smith, Managing Director EMEA at Sterling.  “While the pandemic has had a severe impact on the labour market, it has also had a positive effect. With the progress made in digital identity checks a clear step in the right direction for the market.”

Source: UK Office for National Statistics

The rise of digital identity checks

In lieu of the pandemic, the UK moved swiftly in solving right to work checks during the coronavirus pandemic. As employers are legally obliged to comply with the prevention of illegal working legislation, this process had to be done remotely. In March 2020, the UK Home Office introduced the COVID-adjusted Right to Work scheme in as a temporary measure to allow employers to conduct document checks from home.

81% agreed that the move to digital identity checks would be a positive one.

Now, the framework for remote digital identity checks could become the norm. Following the positive feedback received about the ability to conduct right to work checks remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Home Office announced it would permanently move to digital checks. So far, the transition has been met with optimism. A recent survey during a Sterling webinar illustrated that 81% of hiring managers agreed that the move to digital identity checks would be a positive one.

Goodbye, CVs and references

Employee screening, driven by automated banking data to confirm a job applicant’s work history, can be used for instant gap verification, career history validation and referencing. If those elements are, in essence, checked – what role is there left to play for old-school recruiting elements such as the CV and references? “Digital right to work has led the agenda for some time for obvious reasons”, said Keith Rosser, Group Director of Reed Screening. “I am delighted Digital Careers is already challenging old fashioned views on CVs, work history checking, and referencing. Another key step towards digital hiring. Our own research shows that an incredible 94% of employers said they would use digital careers to speed up hiring.”

Are hiring managers prepared?

Now the onus is on hiring managers. According to Sterling’s recent webinar poll, 38% of hiring managers were unsure about the process, 9% believed it would be a challenging process, and 1% indicated that they would prefer traditional screening methods. “The results of our webinar poll certainly indicate that employers are apprehensive about the move to digital identity”, Smith commented. “But our post-poll confirms that a lot of this reticence comes from a lack of understanding around the finer details, rather than a complete reluctance to the move.”

“Once employers are familiar with how these checks will work, they will truly reap the benefits.”

“The introduction of Digital Identity should definitely be viewed by employers as a positive change”, Smith added. “Allowing hiring managers to benefit from technology that can significantly improve the candidate experience. As well as the speed and accuracy of their background checks. Once employers are familiar with how these checks will work, they will truly reap the benefits.”

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9 TA tech companies to watch: meet the newcomers on the 2022 Fosway 9-Grid

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With their 9-Grid, the Fosway Group provides a unique talent systems market analysis model that is used to understand the relative position of solutions and providers. It showcases the areas where certain solutions excel — and makes comparing them an awful lot easier. On the 9-Grid, all major European solutions are compared on several dimensions. It allows organisations to compare different solutions on five different variables: Performance, potential, market presence, total cost of ownership and future trajectories.

“Our research finds talent acquisition to be a red-hot market right now”, said David Wilson, CEO of Fosway Group. “Organisations face huge recruitment challenges, and it is great to see the innovation on offer from vendors to help buyers overcome these challenges. That said, this is a very busy, and rapidly evolving, marketplace. The onus is on buyers to really understand how to build an effective TA ecosystem that delivers real value and impact.”

Newcomers

While the 2022 edition of the 9-Grid sees largely the same companies head up the list, there are some notable newcomers. 9 of them, in total. Some trend towards being (talent acquisition) suite providers, while others serve as specialists within onboarding, relationship management, talent assessments career sites. Regardless of their stature, these are companies to keep an eye on in the coming years.

1. Adway (social recruiting specialist)

Adway is a data-driven talent acquisition platform that used the principles of social recruitment marketing to attract ‘the next generation of talent’. They do that by combining social media job advertising, automation, advanced machine learning software and, of course, human expertise.

Founded: 2017
CEO: Adrian McDonald

2. Appical (onboarding specialist)

Appical is all about onboarding, engagement and retention. Their SaaS solution focuses on creating engaging employee experiences. Their onboarding and retention platform helps HR departments all over the world to create ‘tailor-made employee experiences’.

Founded: 2012
CEO: Hans van Rijnswoud

3. Arca24 (TA suite provider)

Arca24 develops HCM and staffing CRM software with the aim of improving recruiting and selection processes. Their software solutions work with an integrated semantic engine based on AI and aims to save time during the hiring process and to improve the quality of data management.

Founded: 2013
CEO: Gabriele Molteni

4. Radancy (candidate experience & relationship management specialist)

Radancy is the a talent technology leader that looks to solve the most critical challenges for employer. Their unified platform, augmented by data and industry expertise, aims to revolutionise how employers attract and hire the talent they need.

Founded: 2006
CEO: Michelle Abbey

5. Recruitee (TA suite provider)

Recruitee is a collaborative hiring software that aims to deliver the complete solution to help internal HR teams work with the rest of their organisation. Their recruitment management and applicant tracking system helps organisations find, interview and hire talent.

Founded: 2015
CEO: Perry Oostdam

6. talentsconnect (career sites specialist)

talentsconnect is the HR Tech company behind the JobShop: a SaaS career-site developed to optimise conversion rates in recruiting. With the JobShop, the company aims to serve recruiters to help them solve their recruiting bottlenecks.

Founded: 2013
CEO: Robin Sudermann

7. Teamtailor (TA suite provider)

Teamtailor is developing an employer branding platform. They help SMEs market themselves as an attractive workplace, engage their employees and improve their recruiting process through their all-in-one web service.

Founded: 2013
CEO: Sara Arildsson

8. Vervoe (Talent assessment specialist)

Vervoe looks to make hiring about merit, not background. Through skills assessments, they aim to  give every candidate an opportunity to showcase their talent by doing job-related tasks. Vervoe then uses machine learning models to automatically rank candidates based on how well they perform.

Founded: 2015
CEO: Omer Molad

9. Workable (suite provider)

Workable is a leading hiring platform. They provide in-house recruiters and hiring teams with more ways to find more qualified candidates, and help them work together to identify and hire the best candidates through a variety of software solutions, which include AI-powered tools that source and suggest candidates.

Founded: 2012
CEO: Nikos Moraitakis

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Fosway 9-Grid highlights Europe’s five strategic leaders for 2022