The Role of eRecruitment in the Skills-Based Construction Economy

The construction industry has long been a cornerstone of the global economy, and in recent years, the advent of the skills-based economy has introduced new challenges and opportunities for this sector. One critical area of focus is the role of e-recruitment in finding and attracting the right talent to meet the industry's evolving needs.

The construction industry is characterized by diverse skill sets, with each project requiring specialized expertise (Al-Sinan & Bubshait, 2021). Additionally, the industry's mobile nature, with workers moving from one location to another, can make attracting and retaining skilled labour challenging. In this context, e-recruitment has emerged as a powerful tool to address these challenges and streamline the hiring process.

E-recruitment offers several advantages for the construction industry. By leveraging the wide reach of the internet, employers can now access a global pool of talent, breaking down traditional communication barriers and expanding the pool of potential candidates (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al., 2019). This is particularly crucial in the skills-based economy, where specialized skills may be scarce and geographically dispersed.

The competitive nature of the labour market has driven employers and job seekers to adopt information technologies at accelerated rates, further enhancing the role of e-recruitment. As recruiters compete to identify and hire the best candidates, the use of e-recruitment tools, such as job boards, online applications, and social media platforms, has become increasingly prevalent.

The wide reach of the internet makes it possible to hire valuable HR located anywhere in the world, breaking down traditional communication barriers. Recruiters compete with each other for candidates, while jobseekers compete for jobs; which drives both groups to adopt information technologies at accelerated rates to take the strain out of some of the recruitment activities.

However, the implementation of e-recruitment in the construction industry is not without its challenges. Realizing the full value of e-recruitment requires a deep understanding of the recruitment process and the ability to effectively transform recruitment problem knowledge into e-recruitment solutions. In this context, research has highlighted the importance of using a problem-oriented conceptual model and a complementary ontology for recruitment problem definition.

Overall, the role of e-recruitment in the skills-based construction economy is multifaceted. By leveraging the power of technology, construction companies can access a broader pool of talent, streamline the hiring process, and better align their workforce with the evolving needs of the industry.

References

1. Al-Sinan, M A., & Bubshait, A A. (2021, September 1). Challenges and Opportunities in Employing Locals in the Construction Industry: Saudi Arabia Case. , 9(5), 129-139. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujm.2021.090501

2. Rodríguez-Sánchez, J., Montero, A., & Losada, R G. (2019, October 18). The Opportunity Presented by Technological Innovation to Attract Valuable Human Resources. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 11(20), 5785-5785. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205785