The annual recruitment expo is one of our biggest events of the year. Although we don’t have our own stand to ply our wares, we find a tonne of value just by speaking with our peers, meeting recruitment agency owners, and listening to insights from the top minds in the industry.

So as is becoming a tradition at this point, we’re going to share some of what we learned at this year’s event. But long story short, our little trip to London was worth every mile of travel.

 

What is the Recruitment Expo?

If you’re involved in recruitment in any way, you should know about this event already. Every year, the Recruitment Agency Expo is a major gathering of agency owners, suppliers, innovators, and support companies like ours.

Over two days you’re able to meet your fellow recruiters, networking your heart out in a room full of like-minded professionals. Unlike other expos of a similar size, attending one that is directly aimed at your industry makes it much better for marketing yourself and your business.

Essentially if you have anything new to share, this is the place to do it.

 

Why is the Recruitment Agency Expo Important for Us?

To become the biggest event for the recruitment industry, you have to put on a good show. Once again, it was a record setter, with more visitors and speakers than any previous year.

Thanks to a wide variety of speakers, attendees also gain insight into the wider industry. You might keep a close eye on the news and regularly chat with other agencies to find out what’s going on, but to learn about what to expect in the future, this is the place to be.

We pride ourselves on keeping our fingers on the pulse of the industry, constantly working with our clients so that they know exactly what to expect in the future. This could be a quick check-in to see what they think about their sector at the moment or an important phone call about some upcoming legislation. Either way, we always want to be involved to provide as much support as possible for the agencies we work with.

Since we only support temporary recruitment agencies, you may assume that we only get half the value from an event like this. But because there is so much crossover, there’s always plenty to learn even if it isn’t from an agency we’d work with.

 

AI Insights from the Recruitment Expo

So what about the event itself? Well as we expected, one of the biggest things talked about was AI.

AI in recruitment is an industry in itself. There are AI tools for agencies designed to boost efficiency, AI chatbots that support temporary workers, and the usual mix of LLMs that can benefit any business if they choose to invest in them.

However, the first session we attended was ‘Is a Human-Less Middle & Back Office Actually Possible?’. As you can imagine, a back office support company who specialises in the human touch was a bit peeved at that title, but we still went in with an open mind, and quickly realised what the topic really was.

We won’t summarise the entire session, but essentially, they talked about how AI can streamline an agency without the need to increase headcount. This is nothing new, AI tools handle a lot of the basic admin tasks for a number of agencies and the event speakers stressed that their solutions were not designed to replace real workers, and instead assist them.

For some agency owners, these AI additions do work great. However, for years we’ve shown the value of human support. We handle the admin to a higher standard, and it’s all backed up by real industry knowledge that AI lacks. So we’re not worried about these AI innovations, and even recommend a few for our clients!

It’s safe to say that the future of the industry is still very human, but we’re interested to see where it goes from here.

 

Choosing the Right Solutions

One thing that is always clear at these events is how many solutions are available for a temporary recruitment agency nowadays. If you run a new agency, you’re spoiled for choice if you have some money to invest in streamlining your day-to-day.

But that presents a problem. It won’t be obvious which is right for you. Often, we see new agencies spending thousands every month on systems that cause more headaches than they should, or a third party that is making false promises and delivering nothing.

We work with a lot of new agencies who are facing this exact issue. We’ll explain the pros and cons of our service so they can decide what is right for them. If they want to streamline their operation without hiring new staff, we’re the team to call, but if they are looking for a more reliable CRM, we’ll point them in the right direction.

It’s not just new agencies either. We also work with plenty of established agencies who are looking to gain an edge, or aren’t happy with their current provider. By making switching easy and being transparent throughout the process, it’s easier than ever to correct your course and switch to a back office provider who cares about your success.

 

Looking Ahead to Next Year’s Recruitment Expo

We could talk all day about the sights and sounds of this year’s expo, but we hope our brief overview was helpful. The way we sing its praises you’d think we’re getting paid for this – not so, we just understand how important it is.

So if you’re involved in recruitment and are looking to learn more about the industry, don’t miss next year’s biggest event of the year. And you know we’ll be there, so come say hi!