The Internet was largely a North American phenomenon in the nineties. This no longer holds true in the new decade. Recent studies have shown that there are now more Internet users in the rest of the world than in North America. Sixty-one percent of Swedes aged 16 or older have access to the Internet at home; in South Korea, the figure is 57%. What’s more, another 9% of European households and 12% of Asia/Pacific households plan on acquiring Internet access over the next twelve months. (Source: ACNielsen) Global corporations are waking up to the fact that 421 million people worldwide are now online. A recent study by iLogos Research found that the corporate website is now a component of the recruiting strategy in 88% of Global 500 companies (the world’s largest companies ranked by revenue). World’s Largest Companies iLogos has been tracking the Global 500 for 4 years. The data shows a steady increase in the Global 500’s adoption of recruiting on the corporate website, growing from only 29 percent in 1998, to 60 percent in 1999, 79 percent in 2000 and 88 percent in 2001. The 4-year trend in the data confirms that Global 500 companies consider the corporate website to be a vital component of the overall recruiting process. By region, the survey shows that European and Asia/Pacific-based companies’ growth in career website adoption is stronger than that of North American-based Global 500 companies. North American usage increased just 1%, bringing the total to a leading 93%. This is due to the more mature nature of the Internet in North America. Europe’s increase in usage over the last year was 10%, bringing the total percentage to 83%. This is in line with rising Web penetration in the European markets. The largest increase in the adoption of website recruiting occurred in the Asia/Pacific region: an increase of 20% since last year to 88%, typical of young markets in the early phases of Internet adoption. Industry Sectors Global 500 corporations using corporate website for recruiting in 2001 represent:
- 100% of companies in the Healthcare sector
- 97% of companies in the Manufacturing sector
- 96% of companies in the Transportation sector
- 89% of companies in the High Tech sector
- 87% of companies in the Consumer sector
- 83% of companies in the Natural Resources sector
- 82% of companies in the Financial sector
- 82% of companies in the Wholesale sector
- 79% of companies in the Utilities sector
The relatively even distribution level of adoption among industries indicates that use of the Internet and website recruiting is no longer confined to knowledge or service industries. Usage is universal and widespread. Future Trend iLogos Research expects that nearly 100% of the Global 500 will be using the corporate website for recruiting by 2002, with a few late adopters coming round in 2003. Yet the Careers section of the corporate website represents only a front-end, or candidate-facing aspect of online recruiting. The opportunity remains for large corporations to optimize website recruiting as an integrated and integral element of the recruiting strategy. Attention must be paid to the best practices of online recruiting, especially the application of leading technology and the integration of front and back-end functionality to realize optimal gain. <*SPONSORMESSAGE*>