The Evolution of Recruitment

Recruitment can be traced back to ancient Roman when soldiers were recruited, and in 45BC, Julius Caesar was credited with coming up with the first known employee referral scheme.

The first recorded recruitment agency in the UK was established in 1653 by Henry Robinson although this was rejected by British Parliament and short lived.

The advent of the UK press in the 17^th century enabled employers to promote their opportunities to a wide audience by posting job adverts. This became the primary way employers recruited up until World War 2 when recruitment agencies started to come into play in 1939 to tackle the lack of workers due to soldiers going to war.

The internet arrived in 1990 opening-up access to a global job seeker market and in 1994 the world’s first online job board launched called The Monster Board (now monster.com).  By 2000, job seekers were able to upload their CVs electronically online.

In 2003, LinkedIn launched their business networking platform. As their network grew, they realised that their database offered recruiters and employers access to profiles of prospective job seekers and went on to adapt their platform to facilitate this.

In 2024, Direct Hiring Solutions launched. The platform enables job seekers to promote their profile confidentially & anonymously to employers.  This reversed the traditional recruitment model and for the first-time enabled employers to recruit all their job requirements, including permanent hires, online.

To find out more, employers can visit: www.directhiringsolutions.com and job seekers can visit: www.jobs2udirect.com. Alternatively, contact David Heron. CEO at [email protected].