IES Blog

Talent acquisition shifting to social media

Posted on December 1st, 2011 Read time: 1 minutes

More than $3 billion in talent management software was purchased in 2011, with more projected to be used in 2012, according to a recent Bersin & Associates study.

The firm released its annual review of key HR administration and talent management trends for the upcoming year, noting that the talent acquisition market allocated around 10 percent of its budget to social media and predicts software purchases to increase to $3.5 million next year.

According to The Wall Street Journal, many companies use software called Applicant Tracking Systems, which collects personal and professional information of job candidates, submits it online and ranks the applicants on how well they match certain job descriptions.

The downfall with this method, however, is that if an applicant isn't a match, they're vanquished from the system and can't be recovered for future openings.

Using social media is a more modern approach to talent acquisition, and with the rapid adoption of smartphones, tablets and high-bandwidth internet access, firms will likely need to create a shift in their overall business model to keep up.

CEO Josh Bersin explains that new management software is necessary because of the current imbalance in the talent market. "Despite high levels of unemployment, employers are having a hard time finding the right skills … producing an incomparable talent scarcity that threatens economic growth around the world," he said. 

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