E-recruitment looks to be taking off with latest findings revealing that 46% of HR professionals surveyed by Softworld HR & Payroll currently recruit at least 10% of their workforce via the internet.

However, of the 100 HR & Payroll professionals surveyed in June who attended the Softworld HR & Payroll March 2004 event, only 24% envisaged online recruitment entirely replacing other traditional staffing methods.

The survey which additionally examined other key HR issues also found that the majority of respondents, 75% claimed that staff absenteeism costs their organisation as much as £1 million a year, while 12% claimed the cost was upto £50 million each year.

Over half of respondents, 53% said that their organisations actively promoted a work life balance while 72% believed they had attained a good work life balance in their own role. While 46% of respondents were fearful that wireless technology and remote working would increase the pressure on staff to work longer hours.

Commenting on the findings, Liz Wood, Portfolio director for the Softworld HR and Payroll event said: “There is little doubt that technology and the internet is having a huge impact on HR strategy and tactics. What this research highlights however is that technology does not, and should not, sit in a vacuum. HR professionals need to understand how they can incorporate new technologies to help them achieve their objectives.

“E-recruitment is a great example. Practitioners see e-recruitment as an additional, rather than an alternative, tool. They want to know how best to use the methods together. This autumn’s Softworld educational programme will give visitors to the event help and advice on how to effectively integrate these new technologies and techniques.”

Softworld HR & Payroll event takes place from 20-21 October 2004 at the NEC, Birmingham. The event features an exhibition of around 40 leading solutions suppliers, as well as an educational programme comprising vendor seminar, breakfast briefing and masterclass sessions.

The event is co-located with Softworld Accounting & Finance, Softworld Business Integration Expo and Business Performance & Project Management Forum (BPPM Forum). Visitor badges will allow a free cross-over between all four events.

See Softworld for further details including event highlights.