Is It Time For Recruiters To Get 'Agile'?

A new report by Jobsite highlights the ways in which employers should be embracing the agile workforce to futureproof their hiring strategy...

Despite being a relatively new concept, over half surveyed were familiar with it and over 22% of those had worked in an agile environment for over 2 years. However, recruiters claim less than half of the roles they’re working on offer agile, finding it’s most prevalent in the IT sector.

The ability to accommodate agile into working life proves important, with those who prefer to work agile claiming they would sacrifice an average of 16% of their annual salary for the opportunity. In addition to this, 86% stated they would even change jobs to accommodate their preference.

The study revealed both recruiters and candidates believe the key attributes for success in agile are being flexible, organised and hardworking.

Interestingly, the majority of recruiters believe these are required in advance and cannot be developed on the job. Meanwhile, social qualities (like being introverted or outgoing) or being easy going are less important.

According to the study, top 5 benefits include:

For businesses:
1. Better employee wellbeing (68%)
2. Reduced operation costs (59%)
3. Easier talent retention (56%)
4. Attracts better talent (56%)
5. Provides flexibility to meet demands (55%)

For candidates:
1. Better work/life balance (73%)
2. Provides flexibility to meet demands (59%)
3. Better wellbeing (54%)
4. Higher productivity (52%)
5. Less pressure (38%)

Research also showed potential drawbacks to agile implementation to be:

For businesses:
1. Management difficulties (62%)
2. Less collaboration (46%)
3. Less accountability (37%)

For candidates:
1. Reduced interaction (54%)
2. Less structure (43%)
3. Less teamwork (41%)