Rian Luke

Recruitment is changing faster than most agencies are willing to admit. CV scanning, manual shortlists, and gut-feel interviews don’t scale — and they don’t compete with AI that can read thousands of profiles in seconds, match skills objectively, and remove bias from first-round screening. This isn’t a threat to recruiters. It’s a warning. AI won’t replace recruiters, but recruiters who use AI will replace those who don’t. #RecruitmentTrends #AIInHiring #FutureOfWork #HRTech #TalentAcquisition

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One month back at OpusRS – here’s what I’m seeing in the JavaScript contract market. It’s been great to get stuck back in, and I’ve already noticed some clear trends across the UK JavaScript contract space. 🏢 Hybrid working is shifting. Fully remote roles are becoming less common, with more contracts now asking for 2–3 days a week in the office. Collaboration and team presence are making a comeback. 💬 Contractors who know how to add value and communicate clearly with clients are being consistently extended. It’s not just about technical ability—commercial awareness and soft skills are making a real difference. 📉 Rates have taken a hit compared to a few years ago, but demand is still strong for those who can hit the ground running. ⚙️ Next.js is gaining serious traction. While React remains dominant with 39.5% of developers using it, Next.js is quickly rising with 17.9% adoption—thanks to its performance benefits and built-in features like server-side rendering and static site generation If you're a contractor looking for your next move, or a business needing top JavaScript talent, I’d love to connect. #JavaScript #NextJS #ReactJS #Contracting #TechRecruitment #OpusRS

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“I’m not seeing many freelance contracts online…” I hear this a lot from QSs thinking about going freelance. The reality? You’re not going to find a steady stream of Outside IR35 contracts on job boards. The good ones never make it there. They’re closed off behind trusted networks. Filled before a client even thinks about posting on Indeed or CV Library. Either the client already has a contact base they trust or they’re speaking to me. Freelance is built on long-term relationships, not short-term scrolling. Build your network, not your CV Library alerts. If you want to get into the rooms where these roles are decided, start before you “need” the work. That’s how the best stay booked.

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💷 National Minimum Wage Increase – What’s the Impact? The UK’s minimum wage rise affects non-permanent workforce costs and talent retention. Businesses must rethink their strategies to stay competitive. 📽️ Watch belowfor insights. 📧 Get in touch! - Dan.craddock@hays.com

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Facing the future: Recruitment challenges in 2025 The UK recruitment landscape is rapidly evolving, presenting agencies with unprecedented challenges. As we look ahead to 2025, here are the top hurdles UK recruitment agencies must tackle to stay ahead. 1. Talent Shortages The skills gap is widening, especially in healthcare, tech, and engineering. Finding qualified candidates is becoming increasingly difficult. 2. Increased Competition In-house recruitment teams and AI-driven platforms are on the rise. Agencies need to prove their worth through strong relationships and unique insights. 3. Compliance & Legal Changes Navigating employment laws like IR35 and GDPR is complex. Staying informed is essential to avoid penalties. Despite these challenges, there's a silver lining. Agencies can thrive by embracing agility, leveraging technology, and focusing on building strong relationships. By proactively addressing these issues, agencies can continue delivering exceptional results in a competitive market. 🤝 Need help optimizing your recruitment strategy? Let’s connect and explore how we can support your hiring goals. The future of recruitment starts here. Let's shape it together. 📈

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The biggest single impact on candidate & hiring manager experience is your recruiter experience. So how do you improve recruiter experience? Well you could start with recruiter enablement: ☑️ Give them access to the best tech ☑️ Make sure they're experts in using it ☑️ Provide ongoing Talent Acquisition L&D programmes ☑️ Be there to support and guide them through challenges It's one of the things I love most about my role at Join Talent, striving to deliver an awesome recruiter experience so our teams continue delivering awesome experiences their hiring managers & candidates. What things are you guys doing to improve your recruiter experience? #recruitment #recruiting

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5 ways to ditch your best recruiter 🫡 Thinking of pushing out your top biller? Here’s a handy guide ⬇️⬇️   🫵 Micromanage them to death Hover over every call, second-guess their judgment, re-write emails, and remind them how you did it back in the good old days. Works like a charm.   🎯 Set KPIs for KPI’s sake Who cares if they’re bringing in the most revenue? Make sure they still make 50 calls a day!   🔨 Give them broken tools Outdated CRM? No access to LinkedIn? No automation? Perfect   🙅 Offer zero support Want a healthy pipeline? Don’t bother with marketing. No client intros. No admin. Let them juggle everything   👊 Create constant turf wars Pit them against others in the team, create an environment where your recruiters won’t share candidates/clients/info – nothing like a bit of healthy competition Are you a manager reading this and feeling personally attacked? I’m sorry to say you may be creating a toxic environment 😭 Are you a recruiter reading this thinking, is this post about me? Message me ASAP 🥲 Recruiters don’t leave recruitment They leave environments that make it impossible to succeed #recruitment #agencylife #recruitertips #rec2rec #recruters  

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This Week's Private Healthcare Intelligence 🔹 AI healthcare recruitment revolution: TERN Group raises £17.7m Series A to use AI sourcing healthcare talent globally, while neighbourhood health services launch across 43 UK sites with £10m backing. The convergence of AI-powered recruitment and community-based care models creates new demand for digitally-literate clinical professionals. 🔹 Immigration policy reshapes talent landscape: New £25,000 salary thresholds mean entry-level Band 3 roles can no longer sponsor international workers from April 2025. This immigration tightening forces private healthcare to compete more aggressively for domestic talent, driving up wages and creating opportunities for strategic recruitment partners. 🔹 NHS crisis fuels private sector exodus: With 39% of public prioritising GP access and A&E waiting times, private healthcare admissions hit record levels. Northern Ireland alone shows 6,095 active vacancies (13% increase year-on-year), with nursing shortages leading the charge - prime opportunity for private providers who understand cultural transition. 🔹 Martha's Rule expansion signals quality focus: Now available in all 210 acute hospitals after 4,906 calls in first year, showing patients increasingly assertive about care standards. Private healthcare positioned to capitalise on this quality-consciousness trend. The pattern is unmistakable: tighter immigration controls, NHS capacity constraints, and rising patient expectations create the perfect storm driving healthcare professionals toward private practice. Are you seeing this talent migration accelerating in your network? #UKHealthcare #PrivateHealthcare #HealthcareTrends #MedicalRecruitment #TalentMigration #HealthcareRecruitment

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Recruiters!! Stop slashing your fees just to stay competitive, you're harming the UK Recruitment industry! With rising rents, salaries and recruitment tech costs, everyone is feeling the pinch — your clients included. In a bid to win business, too many agencies are halving their margins, extending rebate periods and stretching payment terms. While that might feel like good service in the moment, the reality is you're straining your payroll, overloading your consultants and devaluing your role as a Recruitment Partner. Recruitment is costly — not just for the client but for the agency too. So how do we fix it? - Keep delivering exceptional service — great CVs, deep vetting, passive candidates etc - Stand by your value — don’t discount your expertise - Educate your clients — show them what happens behind the scenes (contrary to popular belief we're not just CV slingers - most of us aren't anyway) - Reinforce the long-term value of a true recruitment partner Your work has value. Price it accordingly.

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Q1 Overview - Technology Recruitment - - There was a huge amount of positivity coming out the gate in January with lots of technology recruitment businesses having more jobs on then than in the last 2 year... A lot of business had a best month of NFI in December as well so a lot lead from that - 3 months later it looks like the market is better but still not "good". There is still an element of scepticism when clients are hiring and a lot of "were just not sure" at final stages with candidates - There is still a big appetite for billers who are doing over £200,000 and these candidates have lots of options and will be swiped up quickly. You have to move quickly if you want to have a chance of securing these types of candidates - With the European markets, permanent recruitment is tough with most saying contract is doing well - Quite a bit of leadership hiring going on showing plans to pivot and grow are happening - We all knew this anyway but a lot of companies posting about how well everyone is doing are lying (from the horses mouth!) - There is still lots of money to be make for those who specialise and work hard #itsyoursforthetaking

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Here at Recruiter Insider we have done some research and uncovered the key contributing skills consultants need to focus on to improve fill rates. We uncovered how agencies and consultants can: - Drive productivity and performance  - Influence and maximise fill rates - Improve the skills of your consultants - Understand the correlation between workload and placements - Influence and support hiring managers to maximise placement Our whitepaper outlines this and the data is undeniable. If you want to be in greater control of your fill rates comment "Fill Rates" below so I can send you the whitepaper.  Make sure we are connected so I can DM it to you.

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“What do you know about us?”     This is one of the first questions asked during an interview and 99% of people will generally answer this question by saying ‘I looked at your website and….’    This is a basic answer to a generic question on the surface, but I see this as an excellent opportunity to impress the employer whilst setting you apart from your competition.   I encourage my candidates to use this question as an opportunity to show the employer that they are genuinely interested in the company and the job opportunity by coming prepared and having a good amount of knowledge.   Here are some tips to help you nail this question: * Google the company to specifically look for news articles about the business and prepare discussion points. * Look over the social media pages for the business. What do they post or promote that resonates with you? * Check out the online profile of the CEO- what does his / her profile say about the business and where the company or industry is headed? * If the business is listed, look at last years report. How did the company perform? What was the message given to investors? * Research who their competitors are- what makes them different? What are they doing differently to the market?    Responding to this question in this more informed style changes the tone of the interview and will show the hiring manager that you are prepared, knowledgeable and highly organised. Great traits for any employee to have.   How do you currently answer this question?

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Pick up the phone!! Go and visit!! Build proper relationships!! What is happening to recruitment? Everyone harping on about AI and Automation as some kind of saving grace. Disruptive, yes. Helpful around efficiency, for sure. The saviour, not at all. AI and Automation should help recruiters to do those meaningful and powerful parts of the job - building relationships, embedding into clients business, adding value. To do this you’ve got to pick the phone up. Consistently and with purpose and quality. If you’re sat behind spec CVs, automation, making occasional calls to clients you know little about then YOU ARE REDUNDANT. Every agency I meet the difference between success and failure is the quality and quantity of personal outreach (sales calls) to well thought out and targeted communities. There’s some company’s flying right now - they’re just doing the basics right, and often. Pick. Up. The. Phone. And. Speak. To. People.

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Top 10 Challenges in the UK IT Recruitment industry in 2025 and what your recruitment partner should be doing to help: 1. Tech Talent Shortage Cloud, AI & Cyber roles are still hard to fill. 👉 Your recruiter should tap specialist networks, engage with training bootcamps, support junior hiring & advise on L&D pipelines. 2. Post-Brexit Hiring Hurdles Skilled visa routes are complex (especially for SMEs). 👉 Expect guidance on sponsorship, remote hiring & Employer of Record models. 3. Retention in a Hybrid World Global and London firms are poaching your UK talent. 👉 Your partner should help shape flexible, purpose-led roles with clear progression. 4. Evolving Tech Stacks GenAI, edge computing & LLMOps = shifting role expectations. 👉 Look for a recruiter who understands this and collaborates with your tech leads to create accurate specs. 5. Outdated Job Descriptions Many ads are generic, outdated, or AI-written. 👉 You deserve job content that’s sharp, role-specific & aligned with your business objectives. 6. Impersonal Hiring Process Candidates are ghosted. CVs vanish into portals. 👉 Your recruiter should personalise the process & commit to clear comms at every stage. 7. Salary Expectation Gaps 20–30% hikes in some roles. 👉 Get real-time salary data & support on building attractive comp packages (flex, equity, dev). 8. DEI Still Behind Representation in tech leadership remains poor. 👉 Work with partners who source diversely & advise on inclusive hiring frameworks, make sure they practice what they preach. 9. Passive Talent = Harder to Reach Top candidates aren’t applying – they’re lurking. 👉 Recruiters should engage in the right spaces (GitHub, meetups, Slack, etc.). 10. Recruiters Underusing AI Yes, seriously. 👉 The right partner uses AI smartly – CV parsing, shortlisting, scheduling – without losing the human touch, they don't just use it to create job specs. 2025 hiring isn’t just about filling roles. It’s about future-proofing your team. #TechRecruitment #UKHiring #DigitalSkills #FutureOfWork #HiringStrategy #RecruitmentPartner #DEI

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