Job Portals: Are They Worth the Investment or Just Another Cost for Companies?

Hi friends, seniors, viewers, and colleagues, We are conducting an analysis regarding job portals. Can anyone help with this?

Job Portals: Investment or Cost?

In recruitment, a job portal is one of the sourcing methods, and we need to pay for this option. So, in that case, is the job portal an investment or a cost to the organization? If an investment, how? If a cost, how?

Kindly assist me with this. Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Jacs.

Hi Sunny, thank you very much for your valuable time. I agree with you that we can do that. For accessing the job portals (Naukri/Monster/Time Jobs), we need to pay some "X" amount monthly/yearly. Is that "X" amount considered an investment or an extra cost to the organization? Can you share your views on the same?

Thank you

Hi Sunny, thank you once again. I think you didn't catch my point. I am just asking, is the amount we are spending towards the job portal an investment or an extra cost to the organization? What's your opinion on the same?

Thank you.

A very good question you have asked. In my opinion, paying for job portals is an extra cost for organizations. In the present scenario, some organizations use job portals while others rely on consultancies because they do not want to spend time on recruitment. As a result, these organizations pay job portals or consultancies without necessarily finding potential employees, making it a waste of money.

A Remedy for Recruitment Costs

A remedy for this could be recruiting manpower through internal references. By doing so, the recruits can learn about the company and its work culture, which could be very effective. This approach could also help in decreasing the attrition rate, eliminating the need to pay for portals and consultancies.

Regards.

Here's my view: "Cost is what you spend, whereas investment is what you are able to measure the returns from."

To be more relevant to your answer, please consider the following questions:

1) What was the total recruitment of your company last year (or any other specified duration)?
2) What are the sources for recruitment? (e.g., HR recruitment team, consultancies, employee referrals, campus recruitment, direct walk-ins)
3) If the majority of the recruitment came from your company's HR recruitment team and the source for the team is the job portal your company subscribed to, you can calculate the percentage of recruitment using the job portal.

By conducting this calculation, you can establish a relationship between the number of hires and the cost of the job portal to determine the return on investment. Conversely, if your company relies more on consultancies and other sources rather than the job portal, resulting in additional costs, you must analyze the cost-effectiveness based on positions. Consider how much you need to pay for consultancy services or referral bonuses for a specific position and evaluate if the position can be filled using the job portal.

It is essential to comprehend your company's vision/mission, organizational structure, list of job positions, and estimate costs for various job sources to determine which is most cost-effective and adds value to your company. As HR professionals, we should think creatively and always aim to create value for our company. I recommend that HR professionals analyze thoroughly before drawing any conclusions.

Generic categorization of any parameter may not be applicable to all companies at all times; it varies on a case-by-case basis.

I hope you find your answer now.

Regards,
Thiyagu