Staffing agencies can no longer rely on finding candidates as the basis of their business model, according to the international talent acquistion director at global engineering services company CH2M Hill.

David Mason told Recruiter: “What took agencies several weeks to produce a shortlist can now be done in half an hour in the professional and mid-range markets. Your contingent recruiters are going to have to think long and hard about their business models and how they service the market.”

He questioned the value of engaging third party recruiters where they were using the same sourcing methods, such as LinkedIn and job boards, as his in-house team.

Mason said that the usage of third party recruiters by CH2M Hill was “dropping rapidly” and next year would represent around 20% of the company’s UK hires.