Indeed made the monumental step in removing recruitment agencies, RPO’S and staffing firms from their organic listings in the US and Canada. As one of the worlds most used job search engines, this will have a profound effect on many recruitment agencies and companies, who rely on these listings as part of their advertising strategy.
So why have Indeed.com done this?
Firstly, to improve candidate experience on their site. By removing recruiters and RPO’s, and by drawing its postings directly from employers’ sites, Indeed will cut down on the amount of duplicated posts. One of the major complaint’s users have of aggregator sites like Indeed.com is the number of job postings that appear multiple times. Worst still, as many recruiters phrase information differently from employers, or are vague with facts such as location and salary, some job seekers mistakenly believe the same job postings are for different roles. This leads to them wasting time applying for the same role several times, which then lumbers employers with the multiple applications from the same candidates, and causes frustration for candidates when they realise there are fewer roles available than they had been led to believe.
Secondly, is the increase in competition, chiefly from Google for Jobs. Since Google for Jobs launch in the USA back, the service has rapidly spread throughout the world, gaining popularity amongst job seekers. The latest NORAS statistics show that 88% of those actively seeking new roles use Google as part of their job search. With a potential 88% of candidates bypassing aggregator sites like Indeed, this is a clear threat to the companies’ market share. One of the ways of combating this would be to improve its service that Indeed offers to candidates, keeping them using the Indeed.com website, therefore hampering Google For Jobs efforts to establish its platform as the dominant force in online job searches.
This sentiment is echoed by Enhance Media’s Head of Consultancy, Andrew Dyson;
We are seeing greater numbers of jobseekers using Google for Jobs. It’s unsurprising given the improved candidate experience – it is easier than ever for candidates to apply directly with employers instead of signing up to third parties such as aggregators. Unless traditional aggregators such as Indeed react by improving their candidate experience to match Google’s they risk losing even more users. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the first of many shake-ups from aggregator sites over the coming months
With such a disruptive and powerful force as Google moving into online recruitment, it looks like this will be the first of many changes we will see over the coming months, as aggregators figure out how to react to this new service and its impact. Will any of them be able to keep up with Google? Only time will tell. Whatever happens, the real winners here are candidates as increased competition can only lead to improvements in candidate experience and the recruitment industry as a whole.
If you are looking for more information on how to make the most of Google For Jobs, why not visit our site at https://gfj.enhancemedia.co.uk/