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World - Social media embraced in job searches

November 20, 2013

Employees today are increasingly using social media to network and identify employment opportunities, according to the global workforce index survey by Kelly Services Inc. (NASD: KELYA).

The survey found that 41 percent of respondents in the Americas were contacted through social media about an employment opportunity in the last year while 14 percent of respondents stated they secured a job through social media during the same time period.

Brazil stood out as a social media hotspot within the Americas: 74 percent of respondents in that country stated they have been contacted about a potential job opportunity via a social media site or network compared to 48 percent of respondents in Mexico and 39 percent in both Canada and the U.S.

And 44 percent of survey respondents in Brazil stated they secured a job through social media, compared with 25 percent in Mexico, 14 percent in Canada, and 11 percent in the United States.

Additional results of the survey in the Americas include:

  • 39 percent said that they are now more inclined to search for jobs on social media than through traditional methods, including newspaper advertisements, online job boards or recruitment companies.
  • 32 percent said that they use their social media networks when making career or employment decisions.
  • 35 percent said the use of personal devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets in the workplace is either “important” or “very important.”
  • 39 percent said that the ability to use their employer-provided device for both work and personal use rates “highly influential” and “very highly influential” in deciding where to work.

The global workforce index survey is an annual look at opinions about work and the workplace from a generational viewpoint. More than 120,000 respondents in 31 countries participated in the survey, including approximately 21,000 people across the Americas region, comprising the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Brazil.