DATA SECURITY INSIGHTS:
RECRUITMENT
METHODOLOGY
Sample:
Recruitment Consultants employed by agencies
Recruitment Consultants employed by agencies
Sample Size:
1,000
1,000
Geography:
Worldwide
Worldwide
Conducted:
December 2021
December 2021
PERCEIVED EASE
OF DATA THEFT
~63% of recruitment consultants say it would be easy or very easy to take data from their current agency.
IMPORTANCE OF DATA
TO RECRUITERS
~70% of recruitment consultants rated data as their most important or one of their most important assets.
INTERNAL DATA THEFT THREAT:
RECRUITMENT
PERCEIVED EASE
OF DATA THEFT
~63% of recruitment consultants say it would be easy or very easy to take data from their current agency.
IMPORTANCE OF
DATA TO RECRUITERS
~70% of recruitment consultants rated data as their most important or one of their most important assets.
METHODOLOGY
Sample:
Recruitment Consultants employed by agencies
Recruitment Consultants employed by agencies
Sample Size:
1,000
1,000
Geography:
Worldwide
Worldwide
Conducted:
December 2021
December 2021
Atlas Cloud is an award-winning provider of considered, research-driven IT services.
Download our infographic of the summarised findings to keep or share with a colleague.
We reveal and discuss our findings from the survey at our virtual Recruitment Leaders 2022 event.
Get the latest updates as we regularly refresh and analyse our recruitment data over time.
Atlas Cloud is an award-winning provider of considered, research-driven IT services.
Download our infographic of the summarised findings to keep or share with a colleague.
Watch us reveal and discuss our findings from the survey at our recruitment sector webinar.
Get the latest updates as we regularly refresh and analyse our recruitment data over time.
This research reveals that British recruitment consultants believe accessing valuable data and taking it to a different organisation would be an easy undertaking. They may not be aware, but this act would technically be data theft and is a real threat to recruitment agencies who rely on their client and candidate data to drive revenue.
We have been working with recruitment firms for over a decade, and I previously worked as a recruitment consultant. The data theft threat has always been inherent but lacking an evidence base to determine the size and scale of the problem. That’s why we decided to do something about it by launching the first-ever study on data theft in the industry.
Recruitment consultants know how valuable data is. Recruitment agencies know how valuable data is. Recruitment agencies are currently relying on the goodwill of recruiters not to commit data theft, but is that enough?
That is where IT is the most effective solution and can play a huge part in solving this problem – there are technological solutions that make it almost impossible for employees to steal data, without hindering the employee experience of recruitment consultants who need to access and use the data for their jobs and stay productive to win the war for talent.
It is clear that there is an urgent need for agencies to take the appropriate steps to protect their most valuable asset: data.
Pete Watson - CEO, Atlas Cloud
This study is the first to confirm what some of us in the recruitment industry have long suspected; keeping data safe is a huge challenge. In fact, the statistics show it’s a much bigger problem than some might have anticipated as consultants believe it's so easy to take data with them.
We’ve been taking steps to protect our data for years with the help of Atlas Cloud’s services. It’s important to us that our clients and candidates know that we take the safety of their personal and business information incredibly seriously, and that we can be confident our most valuable asset is protected.
Atlas Cloud’s survey shows that we are doing the right thing. Now that the extent of the problem has been revealed, there is no excuse for recruitment agencies not to take action to protect data, and having the right IT measures in place is the measurable and secure way to achieve this.
David Blair - CEO, BlairWest
Recruitment is an incredibly competitive industry and businesses need to consider the impact of this research on their business. Candidate and client data is a very valuable asset and any recruitment business that doesn’t take steps to protect against employees taking that data with them when they leave, will find that the business itself is losing value. This will negatively impact on the growth of recruitment businesses, which is why it is imperative that steps are taken to protect data.
Carl Swansbury - Partner and Head of Corporate Finance, Ryecroft Glenton
THE STATS
Stealing recruitment data is like taking candy from a baby
We asked respondents how easy they thought it would be for them to take data with them if they were to leave the agency they currently work for and join a competitor or start up on their own.
With more than 87% of Britain’s recruitment consultants stating that it would be easy or very easy to take data from the agency they work for it’s clear there’s an issue with recruitment I.T. when it comes to the protection of data and agency intellectual property. If these gaps in data security remain unplugged then this could lead to not only fines and reputational damage, but also competitors infiltrating an agency’s candidate and client base.
Recruitment agencies desperately need to plug the gaps in their data security controls.
Data is also a recruitment agency’s number one asset, so why aren’t agencies protecting data better?
Recruitment data is critical to consultant success
We asked respondents just how important they consider data to be in their job as a recruiter.
Almost 80% of Britain’s recruitment consultants stated that data was their most important asset or one of their most important assets. Having a strong database of candidate and client data is obviously critically important to a recruiter’s success. This establishes the motive behind many in the profession being willing to risk extracting data and taking it with them when they move on.
FURTHER INSIGHT
Recruitment I.T. Effectiveness
As part of our inaugural ‘State of Recruitment I.T.’ survey we also asked recruitment consultants how tech issues impact their day. This has unearthed interesting insights into the current state of recruitment I.T. and highlighted how user experience needs to be continually monitored in order to identify areas where productivity can be improved.
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