Employee Referrals –The Best Leveraged Talent Acquisition Strategy amid Recession

Abstract

In the shadow of global economic turmoil when the Governments of developed countries are resorting to adopt austerity measures to address their current economic upheaval, the modern business organizations cannot be an exception to the same. It is highly imperative for the business organizations to cut down not only the utility and operational costs but also contain the cost of recruitment as the latter is an item of expenses to be recorded on the debit side of the Profit and Loss Account and has a bearing on the profit margin. The practice of referring employees to fill a vacant position and applying for a job via a known employee has increased steadily. This paper defines the way Employee referrals have impacted the business houses as a talent acquisition strategy and how it has changed the face of headhunting industry across the globe. The purpose of this paper is to broaden the research on the recruitment practices, with focus on employee referral practices and trends across the globe, to identify what referral methods are being used and what benefits are being experienced by organizations using these methods. The paper throws a bird's eye view on the Global Employee Referral Recruitment Practices and a snail's eye view on the present scenario of Employee Referral Programs in India with special reference to the IT Sector.