Recruiters role in a recession

Excerpted from an article on CNN.com - 1/22/09

Now more than ever, the role of a professional recruiting partner is key to the success of your hiring plans. As the pool of candidates has increased - the pool of QUALIFIED candidates has, if anything, stayed the same - LOW! Below is an excert from an article appearing on CNN.com.

Headhunters Get the Ax
As companies cut back on hiring, fewer job openings are reducing the demand for recruiters.

"It seems like we're working twice as hard for half as much," said Dave Sanford, the executive vice president of client services for Winter, Wyman, a staffing firm based in Waltham, Mass.
But headhunters can still play a crucial role in today's market, Sanford said. Job openings, while few and far between, now solicit thousands of responses, bombarding employers with too many choices.
"Because everybody is so hungry they're jumping on everything that's moving," Sanford said. "That excellent candidate is buried under 999 other ones."
And that's where a recruiter becomes almost a necessity, because of their ability to sift through applicants. "What we can do is really go out there with a very specific rifle shot in the marketplace," said Sanford.