Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2010: More Than 80% Of Companies Plan To Recruit Through Social Networks In Coming Year

Social Recruiting leads all other channels for increased investment by companies currently hiring

BURLINGAME – June 30, 2010 – Social networks lead all other recruiting channels for planned investment by employers as the economy recovers, according to the results of Jobvite’s third annual Social Recruiting Survey. Jobvite, creator of next-generation recruitment solutions, found 83% of respondents use or plan to start using social networks for recruiting this year. LinkedIn (78%), Facebook (55%) and Twitter (45%) are the most popular social recruiting channels, while MySpace is used by just 5% of respondents.

The 2010 Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey found social network recruiting continues to gain momentum, while companies decrease spending on more expensive recruiting channels, like job boards and third party recruiters or search firms:

• 46% of respondents plan to spend more on social recruiting in 2010 than 2009
• 36% will spend less on job boards and 38% will spend less on third party recruiters and search firms
• For candidate quality, respondents rated social networks significantly higher than job boards who landed in last place; while referrals were the most highly rated for quality

While the national unemployment rate slowly improves, 71% of survey respondents are hiring and 35% reported “business is booming and we need to hire NOW.“ Among the 70% of companies actively hiring, the use of social networks for recruiting is even more pronounced:

• 92% of those actively hiring in 2010 currently use or plan to recruit via social networks
• Of this group, 86% use LinkedIn, 60% use Facebook and 50% use Twitter for recruiting
• In addition, 50% of hiring companies plan to invest more in social recruiting while only 17% will spend more on job boards and 36% will spend less

Social media profiles are important in the hunt for finding and hiring new talent. More than 80% of respondents review social profiles at least sometimes – almost 1/3 always review them; but 69% of candidates don’t share their account information when applying. This large disparity between candidates disclosing their social network presence and recruiters reviewing their online profiles indicates job seekers should be more cognizant of the influence their profiles could have and leverage them in their job hunting.

The 2010 Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey found respondents have seen many changes in 2010 candidates vs. last year:

• 83% said more applicants have been unemployed
• 73% said applicants are more willing to accept lower salaries
• 62% said applicants are more willing to relocate
• 54% said applicants have more work experience

“While the economy begins to recover, companies looking to make new hires are seeking the most cost-effective, efficient ways to find new talent. As our third annual survey shows, social network recruiting has become a mainstream channel for employers who need access to talent,“ said Dan Finnigan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Jobvite. “Job boards launched a revolution in recruiting more than 15 years ago. And now, social networks are doing the same – but in a targeted way. Through social recruiting, companies are learning they can find the best talent efficiently, without making a major investment.“

Over 600 human resources and recruitment professionals completed Jobvite’s online survey. Responses came from a wide variety of industries, with software, technology companies making up 22% of respondents. Only 3% of respondents were Jobvite customers.

Full results of the 2010 Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey are available at: https://www.jobvite.com/resources/social-recruiting-survey.php

LinkedIn® is registered trademark of LinkedIn Corporation. Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.