The chief executive of Adecco Group in the UK and Ireland says he is worried that recent trends are moving recruitment away from the all-important human element.

Peter Searle told the Recruitment & Employment (REC) convention in London earlier this week: “The worry I have as we move forward is that social media, RPOs and managed service providers are all moving the recruitment process away from human beings.”

Addressing the audience, Searle said that “as recruiters we know a lot of recruitment is about gut feeling and relationships”.

Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, urged intermediaries to rethink their business model, warning that unless they did so good recruiters would no longer work with them. The impact would be that while “clients may get the [cost] savings, they are not going to get the quality”, added Green.