Recruiters top Insight Discovery’s "Worst Reputation" survey three years in a row
Recruitment firms have now had the unenviable honour of topping Insight Discovery (ID)’s Worst Reputation survey ranking for three years in a row, with internal recruiters (20 percent) and executive search firms (11 percent) contributing to dissatisfaction with the industry. Real estate agents fared little better at 25 percent, where they were joined social media influencers for the first time.
More than half (52 percent) UAE residents picked recruiters when asked about industries delivering the worst customer service, followed by telemarketers or call centre operatives at 33 percent and credit card issuers at 31 percent, according to this year’s Worst Reputation’ survey, their fifth annual study, which aims to highlight opportunities for companies to improve public perceptions and win new business.
Independent financial advisers vied with bank-employed advisers at 17 percent, marking a relative improvement for them, who scored worse than their bank peers in previous surveys.
Nigel Sillitoe, CEO of Insight Discovery, said: “It’s disappointing to see recruiters called out yet again for having the lowest professional reputation in the country. This matters because demand for talent is growing exponentially as more and more companies set up or expand in the UAE. Hiring managers and job seekers need efficient, trustworthy recruiters, and we all need them to succeed to keep the economy moving forwards.
Sillitoe felt that “good recruiters gain an advantage over those that are causing so much dissatisfaction. Simple steps, like being responsive and giving clear guidance to individuals who are looking for a new job, can make a big reputational difference quite quickly”.
The addition of social media influencers to the list did not surprise Sillitoe. He said, “It isn’t always clear when influencers are being paid to promote products and this lack of transparency leads to a lack of trust. We should be especially concerned about the rise of so-called ‘finfluencers’ who post about financial products and who give financial advice. Often these influencers post about unregulated schemes, including cryptocurrency schemes, which can be highly risky or even outright illegal.”
For this year’s study, ID allowed survey participants to select multiple industry sectors. Western expats seem to be the most dissatisfied, ticking more boxes than any other group. Arab expats, on the other hand, reported themselves to be the least dissatisfied, closely followed by UAE Nationals. When looking at the data in age brackets, people aged 25-44 were the most dissatisfied with recruiters, while those 18-24 and those over 45 were most dissatisfied with telemarketers and call centre operatives.
