The balance of power has shifted – and not just in the White House. As Obama takes his seat in the oval office, he looks out over a world economy in tumult – and a recruitment industry finally feeling the effects.

Where once, confident financiers sat deliberating the next sky-high step for their salaries, now, quivering bankers fill recruitment agency waiting rooms, not knowing where their next pay-cheque may come from. The financial industry is just one of a glut of traditionally candidate-led industries now seeing a dramatic reversal of roles, as shrunken budgets and tightened purse strings see employers cutting back and taking control in the face of the financial crisis.

The candidate-employer relationship is not the only one breaking the conventional mould: having experience a huge downhill slide in permanent recruitment, and a concurrent upward spiral and stabilisation of temp demand, the function of the recruiter has altered – and with it the service offering.

‘Value-added’ is a well-known term in recruitment and most business sectors, yet of late it has come to mean not just the optional luxuries for the most affluent clients, but vital, unique extras that will ensure the very survival of an agency. As such, recruiters worldwide have put their thinking caps on and attempted to scramble out of the box with original offerings and improvements to their service.

Not only this, but many niche recruiters – whether by industry or perm:temp ratio - have realised that demand for their slice of the market is dwindling, and taken action by sticking their fingers immediately into whole new pies: legal recruiters are expanding into human resources, while primarily perm engineering agencies are spreading into industrial temp services. Diversification is widespread and growing.

With all these shifts and shake-ups in the industry, an up-to-date, dynamic information resource is crucial for employers, candidates and recruiters alike to keep each other informed of their needs and services. Recruitment agency comparison site www.peoplecompare.co.uk , for example, not only allows recruiters to modify their online service listings in real time, but enables employers and candidates to then compare these latest profiles, make contact with the recruiter of their choice and then make quick, cost-effective decisions based on the results.

An unpredictable economy means that employment demand and supply could continue to fluctuate for some time to come. The importance of dynamic internet-based news sources looks set only to be augmented by this uncertainty, as timely information becomes a business differentiator, allowing those who have it to make those crucial business decisions with up-to-the-minute accuracy.