When you say it like that, it sounds almost like it might be fun.  Perhaps a bit of an adrenaline ride at Alton Towers?  Afraid not – albeit it may provide a bumpy ride for a few of us.

Well it’s official.  As of 9:30 this morning we learned we have entered the joys of a double dip recession, and for us that means it’s time to work out how this will impact the world of flat fee online recruitment.  Before we all get too excited, what’s it all about?  Well, for those of you not familiar with the technicalities we are officially in recession once we have two consecutive quarters of negative growth.  Now I don’t mean to be pedantic, but from my quick observation the last quarter of 2010 was worse on its own than the last two quarters put together – so is it that bad?

Well yes and no.  Sorry for the non committal answer, but we have been “bumping along the bottom” now for quite some time.  The graph above (which I am afraid I stole from the BBC!) shows quite clearly we have been alternating between one positive / one negative quarter for the best part of two years now.  As such this is not really that different.  However we have hit the two negative quarters definition and you can be sure to hear much about the dreaded “R” word all across the media.

But taking a look at the big picture, it was never really avoidable was it?  With all the turmoil in the Eurozone, many think having a period of recession in 2012 was a certainty.  The real issue is how quickly we can get out of it.

But what does this all mean for the jobs market?  Well the world of online recruitment is generally seeing positive growth with increases shown in each report on previous recruitment figures.  However I suspect much of this is at the expense of traditional paper based advertising.

One thing you can expect to see with this next period of recession is another renewed focus on costs.  This is likely to lead to further growth in the flat fee recruitment model benefitting companies like Hunt4Staff.com. 

One significant factor for employers to think about is the impact of the double dipper on the quality of applications.  My own theory is we will see a greater degree of nervousness from candidates in what is already a difficult market.  Those candidates in safe secure employment are less likely to take risks, and therefore less likely to apply to your next job advert.  Time to think very seriously about how best to sell and market that next role I think!

Jason Perry
Hunt4Staff.com
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