The recruitment industry downsized significantly during the first wave of COVID-19, in 2020. Now it is desperate for employees.

Mark Smith, group general manager for recruitment company people2people, says that in his 28 years in the industry he has not seen such high demand for recruiters. “The industry is scrambling to increase headcount through training, graduate programs or enticing experienced recruiters to move,” he says.

The tight labour market and a lack of recruiters from Britain and Ireland thanks to two years of closed borders are just part of the problem. “Agencies are also seeing demand from their clients at extremely high levels,” Smith says.

Changes brought on by the pandemic are substantially changing how organisations recruit. “Virtual interviews and video applications are [now] the norm. Remote work is also now ubiquitous and will impact the way we work and what job seekers value in a job,” he says.

Adam Brown, NSW state manager at Kingfisher Recruitment, says changes in the market mean recruiters now spend time educating clients on what post-lockdown job seekers are looking for, as culture and flexibility now play key roles in whether someone will apply for a role.

Kingfisher tries to encourage clients to identify the traits they’d like to see in their employees so that they can tap those workers who may not be applying for jobs but will move for the right organisation and offer.

“A lot of businesses are still hiring based on a set of skills rather than focusing on identifying those key behaviours,” Brown says.

Most roles in recruitment are sales-focused, which can mean extreme highs and lows for those in the job.

“Typically, as your role expands, you might have less focus on frontline recruitment … [but] in most recruitment businesses there are very few people, regardless of their title, that don’t play a part in active recruitment,” Brown says.