European Employers Flooded With Recruiting Technology Options

No one vendor leads Europe’s recruiting software market but a number of new companies, and increasing interest from U.S. solutions providers, makes the landscape challenging for purchasing decision-makers.

“Buyers in the European talent acquisition market are faced with more choice than ever before,” said UK-based Fosway Group in releasing its analysis, the Fosway 9-Grid for Talent Acquisition.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the business world, recruiting technology has become a world of extremes the industry analyst said. Most employers have frozen hiring—if they’re not laying off staff. As a result, many HR teams are “firefighting, trying to put talent pools and candidate pipelines into hibernation for when hiring might restart.”

On the other extreme, some employers are grappling with a pressing need for new workers. The demand for their products and services has grown so acutely, they need increased automation and improved filtering to fill their open roles more quickly.

“The first wave of the global COVID-19 crisis has effectively created two very different realities for recruiters,” said Fosway CEO David Wilson. At organizations that have suspended hiring, recruiters may be prioritizing brand visibility and relationship-building with candidates over technology. At others, the pressure is on to find solutions that can “process and filter candidates at a scale that probably breaks their existing platforms and processes,” he explained.

Trends in Recruiting Technology

Even before the pandemic, revenue growth from traditional talent management solutions was declining, the report said, though new companies saw double-digit growth rates each year. To hold their position against startups and U.S. firms, the report said established players will have to innovate more quickly and double down on service. Even then, “with strategic funding and fresh thinking, newer entrants might nudge them out,” it said.

Other trends the report highlighted:

• The impact of candidate relationship management solutions on the traditional ATS has been “seismic.” Buyers today want a “joined-up capability,” which drives demand toward suite-style solutions. At the same time, recruiters need to nurture relationships. This adds up to pressure on CRM-focused products as ATS vendors build or acquire CRM capabilities. Meanwhile, CRM providers are causing disruption by adding features to aid workforce mobility, an area where ATS and talent management vendors have been falling behind.
• While ATS is foundational, CRM is becoming a differentiator in candidate engagement. CRM offers real power in terms of creating personalized experiences. An important dynamic vendors must contend with in this regard is privacy. In the world of GDPR, providers must be on solid ground in their design and implementation to stay within the boundaries of compliance. As the report says, “There is a significant legal difference between applying and signing up for a candidate pool.”
• Internal mobility and flexibility have become critical. Addressing these needs should be among a platform’s core capabilities, the report suggested. While many vendors have enhanced their coverage of mobility issues, few adequately support the hiring of contingent workers, including gig workers. Those that have may find themselves well-positioned as the pandemic leads more employers to explore the use of workforce flexibility modules.
• UX is the major selling point, but functionality matters. UX issues may lead some customers to move away from legacy products, but companies TA products that can perform department-by-department, in end-to-end scenarios, and at scale. Thus, “[f]unctional due diligence is as important as ever,” the report said.

You can access the report here.

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Image: Fosway Group