LinkedIn survey says recruiters find their role is integral to guiding company talent, strategy

Tech recruiters are going through an uncertain period with Meta, Twitter, and Microsoft all reducing their talent acquisition teams over the last few months.

But a new report from LinkedIn seems to show that recruiters are increasingly acting like compasses at their organizations. They’re not steering the ship, but they’re certainly guiding it, working across other HR functions to help companies succeed.

Valuable asset. While 53% of recruiters polled said they expect their budgets will stay flat or even decrease this year, the data indicates that this doesn’t mean recruitment is any less valuable. The function is driving results for larger businesses, and 87% of in-house recruiters said that talent acquisition has become more of a strategic function over the last year.

“Recruiting professionals have never been able to make a bigger impact than right now. You used to be able to say, ‘These hires helped our company.’ Now you can say, ‘I changed the makeup of our company, I changed where we work, I changed what we look for, and I changed how we hire,’” said Brett Baumoel, VP of talent acquisition at Microsoft, in the report.

Cross-functionality. The report highlights learning and development and employer branding as key areas where recruiters can have a deep impact on employers.

LinkedIn found that recruiters have to understand what their employer brand says to candidates if they want to be competitive. Flexible work arrangements, fair compensation, and good managers are the fastest-growing priorities for candidates, and should be communicated to them in the recruiting process.

“When the economy recovers, the competition for talent is going to spike back up very quickly. So, it’s really important for companies to make progress in how they position their employer brand and, more importantly, how they bring it to life,” said Marc-Étienne Julien, chief talent officer at Randstad Global.

As reskilling and internal mobility programs grow, 62% of respondents said they’re already working with learning and development teams, while 81% said they need to work more closely with learning in the future. And given that skill development is a priority for job-seekers, it’ll be incumbent on recruiters to convey that message to potential hires.