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In the present paper we examine the impact of firms' attitudes towards key aspects of the recruitment process on the number of search channels activated. Furthermore, we address the issue of the timing of the activation of additional search channels. It is found that firms that attach importance to search effort and to applicants' motivation generally use more search channels than firms that do not attach any importance to the aforementioned aspects of recruitment. Furthermore, it appears that employers generally use fewer search channels for permanent positions. However, firms with a personnel department which are hiring for a vacancy requiring specific work experience usually activate multiple search channels. Finally, the choice of advertising as the first search channel appears to negatively affect the chances of considering additional channels.
Key words: firm behaviour, search channels, vacancies, labour demand
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1 INTRODUCTION
Employers invest a considerable amount of time and resources in the search for new employees. It requires much effort to identify and attract the applicants with the desired characteristics. Search and selection time spells may lead to the existence of a costly unfilled vacancy within a firm.
In the employers' search literature, most of the studies have considered issues related to vacancy duration ' and the strategies firms may adopt in order to minimize this. In particular, this strand of literature has focussed on the use of search channels, sometimes in conjunction with the analysis of vacancy duration (Roper (1988), Lindeboom (1992), van Ours and Ridder (1992), Gorter et al. (1996), and Russo et al. (1997a)).
It has also been recognized that the choice of the search channels is of strategic importance in most staffing programmes; it may affect both the number of potential applicants and their expected productivity (and hence the value of the match between the vacant position and the eligible job seeker (Boudreau and Rynes (1985), Montgomery (1991)). However, only few studies have related the use of search channels to the characteristics of the hired applicant (Russo et al. (1997b), Holzer (1996)), or have investigated the role of personnel management in recruitment (Holzer (1987) and Russo et al. (1997a)).
In the present empirical analysis our aim is to further characterize the role of...