What happened in Recruiting in 2007, and what's in store for 2008?

Back from my Fishing Trip!! Had I realised I wasn't going to be blogging for a while I'd have put up a sign! Happy New Year to you.

So, what happened in 2007. I guess in the MEA markets it was a case of a fuel economy driving everything, and recruitment trying to keep up the pace.

- Growth
- High oil price
- Weakening economies worldwide, seized on by Sovereign Wealth Funds of UAE, KSA, Qatar
- International growth by regional firms (Q: "How do we recruit in Algeria + Sudan?" A: "Good question!")

Attractiveness of working in the local economy is stronger than ever, however people are leaving at the same rate due to ripping inflation on the ground in the region itself.

Firms are still struggling to find executive talent, and retention of mid-managers below them is increasingly hard. The available talent pool is only going to shrink in 2008 I think; as what had promised to be the next great hunting grounds (India, Vietnam, Eastern Europe, Russia, South America, China for example) are all growing and recruiting heavily themselves.

Expect to see India and China aggressively repatriating its senior executive talent for the next few years. Personally I can even see the junior professional workforce (check out any hotel lobby in Abu Dhabi or hospital in Jeddah) moving back to the Asian growth markets before 2010.

I'm not sure how much the Middle East can stop itself being a worker merry-go-round. National talent development and expatriates buying houses can only provide so much stability, but is crucial. I think what's sadly missing and has to be put in place pronto is wide-scale introduction of Long-Term Incentive plans, so I really hope to see leading firms doing so in 2008.

M&A Activity hotting up
Consolidation in the recruitment market - should lead to more professional levels of service and many mid-market generalist recruitment firms will struggle as clients turn to established brands or niche firms offering high quality in a specialist sector.

Andrew Banks of Morgan & Banks fame recently invested in InterSearch, and Manpower have of course just announced they've acquired Clarendon Parker Middle East. Expect more M&A, and more new entrants.

What is eRecruitment anyway?
On the recruiting technology side of things, the biggest change has been the end-user awareness and level of comfort. Recruiters and Managers across the MEA market finally showed in 2007 that they expect to see their firms leveraging technology, so it's still baby steps for the masses, but I expect to see larger firms really try to get to grips with recruitment technology and how it can make a difference to recruiting across the entire enterprise.

Receiving a CV over the company website is no longer understood to mean eRecruitment, as honestly that is what most leading employers felt online recruitment meant here until 2007 in my opinion. The bar has been raised now and more sophisticated and comprehensive solutions that make life easier for all concerned in recruitment are now firmly on the corporate wish list.

I don't feel video-CV's will feature in MEA during 2008, however SMS messaging to candidates, candidate care, interactive communication tools on career portals, more psych testing online and a more personalised candidate experience will be the recruiting technology landscape in 2008.