New research from IT services company Atlas Cloud has revealed that more than four-fifths (87%) of Britain’s recruitment consultants think it would be easy to take data from their employers when moving jobs.
The global survey of 1,000 recruitment consultants revealed that British recruitment consultants are the most likely to think taking candidate or client data with them when moving jobs would be either “easy” (50%) or “very easy” (37%).
They were followed by US-based recruitment consultants, where almost two-thirds of whom overall thought it would be easy to take data (63%), and South African recruitment consultants (59%).
The survey findings show that recruitment consultants globally are aware of the importance of data.
More than two thirds of recruitment consultants overall said that data was an important asset to recruitment firms (70%), with more than a third believing it to be the most important asset to consultants overall (38%).
Recruitment consultants in the US were the most likely to say that data is their most important asset (50%), followed by British recruiters (42%).
These admissions come despite the fact that the theft of data from an employer is illegal and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has successfully prosecuted employees in the recruitment sector for stealing personal data from employers with a view to setting up a competing business.
The Information Commissioners Office has successfully prosecuted recruitment consultants for trying to steal data.
In 2017 Daniel Short was prosecuted after an ICO investigation found that he stole the details of 272 individuals when he left the recruitment company he was working for, VetPro Recruitment, to set up his own similar company called VetSelect.
IT security experts warned the survey -showed that urgent action is needed to protect against potential data theft.
Recruitment firms can protect their data with solutions such as hosted desktops, which allow employees to easily and securely access all of their emails, files, and applications from anywhere, on any device. As all data is stored and accessed via the hosting environment, rather than locally on the device, employers have the peace of mind that employees can not directly download the valuable client and candidate information.
Pete Watson, CEO of Atlas Cloud, said the survey showed why recruitment agencies urgently needed to put steps in place to protect their data.
He said: “This research reveals that British recruitment consultants believe accessing valuable data and taking it to a different organisation would be an easy undertaking. They may not be aware, but this act would technically be data theft and is a real threat to recruitment agencies who rely on their client and candidate data to drive revenue.
“We have been working with recruitment firms for over a decade, and I previously worked as a recruitment consultant. The data theft threat has always been inherent but lacking an evidence base to determine the size and scale of the problem. That’s why we decided to do something about it by launching the first-ever study on data theft in the industry.
“Recruitment consultants know how valuable data is. Recruitment agencies know how valuable data is. Recruitment agencies are currently relying on the goodwill of recruiters not to commit data theft, but is that enough?
“That is where IT is the most effective solution and can play a huge part in solving this problem – there are technological solutions that make it almost impossible for employees to steal data, without hindering the employee experience of recruitment consultants who need to access and use the data for their jobs and stay productive to win the war for talent.
“Recruitment is an incredibly competitive industry. It is clear that there is an urgent need for agencies to take the appropriate steps to protect their most valuable asset: data.”
Atlas Cloud has been helping recruitment agencies to protect their data for more than a decade, since the IT company launched in 2010.
Amongst their recruiter clients is executive search and recruitment firm BlairWest, who use Atlas Cloud’s remote managed device services to protect and lock down its sensitive and valuable data. BlairWest has had no known data breaches.
David Blair, CEO at BlairWest, said: “This study is the first to confirm what some of us in the recruitment industry have long suspected; keeping data safe is a huge challenge. In fact, the statistics show it’s a much bigger problem than some might have anticipated as consultants believe it is so easy to take data with them.
“We’ve been taking steps to protect our data for years with the help of Atlas Cloud’s services. It’s important to us that our clients and candidates know that we take the safety of their personal and business information incredibly seriously, and that we can be confident our most valuable asset is protected.
“Atlas Cloud’s survey shows that we are doing the right thing. Now that the extent of the problem has been revealed, there is no excuse for recruitment agencies not to take action to protect data, and having the right IT measures in place is the measurable and secure way to achieve this.”
The survey findings have led to a word of caution from corporate financier Carl Swansbury, who advises the shareholders and management teams of recruitment companies on all aspects of growth, change, and transformation, and has advised on dozens of disposals, acquisitions, management buyouts, and management buy-ins of recruitment businesses over the past 15+ years.
Carl Swansbury, Partner and Head of Corporate Finance at Ryecroft Glenton Corporate Finance, said: “Recruitment is an incredibly competitive industry and business owners need to consider the impact of this research on their business. Candidate and client data is a very valuable asset and any recruitment business that doesn’t take steps to protect against employees taking that data with them when they leave, will find that the business itself is losing value. This will negatively impact on the growth of recruitment businesses, which is why it is imperative that steps are taken to protect data.”