SURVEY: DEC 2021

THE STATE OF RECRUITMENT I.T.

The Data Theft Pandemic

Data theft has long been an issue within recruitment agencies so we decided to take a look at the current landscape as part of our ‘The State of Recruitment I.T.’ survey.

Our research uncovers how easy recruitment consultants think it would be to steal data from their agency, how commonplace they think data theft is, and how important they consider data to be in contributing to their success as a recruiter. We also discuss the extent to which the Covid-19 pandemic may have exacerbated the data theft problem.

About the survey

Conducted in December 2021, our research findings are based on a survey of 1,000 randomly selected respondents, consisting of recruitment consultants over the age of 17 from around the world.

The margin of sampling error is +/-3% percentage points, with a confidence level of 99%.

Executive Summary

For those in a rush, here are the main findings of the survey:

Almost 63% of recruitment consultants state that is would be easy or very easy to take data from the current agency they work for.
63.5% of recruitment consultants know someone who has taken data from an agency they have worked for.
Nearly 70% of recruitment consultants rated data as their most important asset or one of their most important assets.

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 62.9% of 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.

Recruitment data theft is extremely commonplace

We asked respondents if they knew anyone who had taken data from an agency that they worked for when moving to a competitor or setting up on their own.

Having established how easy it is to take candidate and client data from an agency, it was worrying to find that 63.5% of recruitment consultants know someone who has done just that. So not only have we identified a weakness in data security but also a willingness to exploit it, despite data protection laws and common contractual prohibitions.

Contractual and legal restraints are not enough to stop data theft; recruitment agencies need to put physical barriers in place ASAP.

Recruitment data is critical to consultant success

We asked respondents just how important they consider data to be in their job as a recruiter.

69.6% of 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.

Data is also a recruitment agency’s number one asset, so why aren’t agencies protecting data better?

LEARN MORE

Infographic

Download our infographic of the summarised findings to keep or share with a colleague.

Keep Up-To-Date

Get the latest updates as we regularly refresh and analyse our recruitment data over time.

Reassuring
Managed Services

Reassuring
Consultancy

Reassuring
Industry solutions

SURVEY: DEC 2021

THE STATE OF RECRUITMENT I.T.

The Data Theft Pandemic

About the survey

Executive Summary

THE STATS

Stealing recruitment data is like taking candy from a baby

Recruitment data theft is extremely commonplace

Recruitment data is critical to consultant success

LEARN MORE

The State of Cyber Security in the Legal Sector

Managed I.T. Services

Cyber Security Services

Cloud Consultancy

I.T. Solutions

Unsure which service?

Company

Compliance

Contact

Who are Atlas Cloud?

The Recruitment Data Theft Pandemic

Newsletter Sign-Up

New Research

ReassuringManaged Services

ReassuringConsultancy

ReassuringIndustry solutions

SURVEY: DEC 2021

THE STATE OF RECRUITMENT I.T.

The Data Theft Pandemic

About the survey

Executive Summary

THE STATS

Stealing recruitment data is like taking candy from a baby

Recruitment data theft is extremely commonplace

Recruitment data is critical to consultant success

LEARN MORE

The State of Cyber Security in the Legal Sector

Managed I.T. Services

Cyber Security Services

Cloud Consultancy

I.T. Solutions

Unsure which service?

Company

Compliance

Contact

Who are Atlas Cloud?

The Recruitment Data Theft Pandemic

Newsletter Sign-Up

New Research

Reassuring
Managed Services

Reassuring
Consultancy

Reassuring
Industry solutions