After Brexit, Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn is one of the most debated current topics in recruitment. How will it impact LinkedIn’s position as a source of talent and will it affect your hiring strategy?
After Brexit, Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn is one of the most debated current topics in recruitment. Our previous article examined the potential changes coming to LinkedIn which may impact HR. How will this change LinkedIn’s position as a source of talent and will it affect hiring strategies?
Reactions to the merger have been mixed, with many experts caught out by the announcement. A number of discussions emerged across online forum Quora, some expressing concern about LinkedIn being ‘sold for parts and shelved’. An article in the Business Insider recalls the mixed outcomes of previous tech mergers and Facebook’s Product Analytics Manager, Paul King,suggested that acquisitions often lead to less, not more, innovation, citing examples of Skype, also owned by Microsoft and MySpace which was purchased by NewsCorp.
The biggest perceived threat from the merger is expected to be to companies such as Salesforce, Oracle and Google. Matt Charney suggests that, subject to creating and executing an effective strategy, over time Microsoft and LinkedIn could move into the HR technology market and transform the way in which employers make hires.
Microsoft can bring transformational capabilities to LinkedIn but in the interim period, employers and recruiters are still faced with the challenging of sourcing the skills and talented candidates their businesses need.
LinkedIn’s position
LinkedIn’s position appears secure as the premier site for people to showcase their professional profile and extend their network, while offering a jobs board to explore potential opportunities. For recruiters it provides a source of leads. For HR it offers the opportunity to tap into a big database of CVs. The issue remains, however, that many sought after candidates feel bombarded with jobs by recruiters who don’t make an effort to nurture a relationship or take the time to understand their career aspirations.
With Microsoft’s involvement, employers will have access to a platform which provides more insight into the capabilities both of their organisation and their people, with increased connectivity and collaboration and an opportunity to improve engagement. In this area it will face competition from Facebook which may prove more attractive to employers.
Facebook at Work is expected to offer a secure internal communications platform for employees to work together and share information – in short, many of the positive aspects of Facebook, minus the adverts. It is rumoured to have a waiting list of 60,000 companies prior to its global launch later this year. RBS plans to have 100,000 people on its own Facebook network. Notably, Facebook at Work will also compete with Microsoft owned Yammer.
LinkedIn vs Indeed
LinkedIn has an estimated 433 registered members worldwide but only an approximately 25% of its users are considered active. The merger with Microsoft should go some way to changing that. Twitter, for example, has 310 million active monthly users. It is unlikely to increase its appeal to younger people, however.
The annual Top Sources Of Hire report showed that Indeed is still the biggest source of hire for external candidates leading to nearly more than six times as many interviews as the second largest source (Careerbuilder at 8%) and 2.5 times as many as other top branded sites combined. LinkedIn’s share is estimated at 5%. Indeed enjoys a 43% share as a source of external hires with its ability to attract a large pool of global talent.
Furthermore, it proved effective at directing traffic to company careers sites too.
Your recruitment software will provide insight as to whether these statistics are reflected in the hiring patterns for your business but its position appears to be secure.
In terms of all online recruitment, employee referrals were ranked as the top source of hire, with Indeed in second place. Employee referral programmes are most effective when employees feel engaged and connected within their business. As changes begin to take effect following Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn this may prove vital to establish its position as a source of passive talent.
Beyond the online recruitment giants
For businesses in sectors like tech where key skills are harder to find, talent is more likely to be found on sites such as Stack Overflow. Snapchat is also considered by some as the new ‘LinkedIn for tech start-ups’. A complaint expressed by tech talent is that recruiters fail to understand what they want from their next job or understand their community. The merger of Microsoft and LinkedIn won’t change that.
For most employers, creating effective talent acquisition and retention strategies remains a priority and LinkedIn will continue to play a part in that. It is still too early to predict whether its influence as a recruiting or employee engagement tool will expand or if it will in fact be ‘sold for parts and shelved’. Data driven recruitment and hiring strategies will provide detail regarding your most effective sources of hire and help you to develop effective strategies that maintain an ongoing source of that talent.
Recruitment analytics provided by sophisticated HR technology provides the vital insight into your most effective sources of hire. Contact Advorto to find out more.
Source: Recruitment Buzz