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Not much to say ... here's an example via the Toronto Globe & Mail.

More disintermediation ... the issues and the approach described speak for themselves.

You saw this coming, didn't you?

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Employers sidestep recruiters to tap social media

Toronto-based entrepreneur Razor Suleman needs to hire 17 people over the next month.

He could have chosen traditional methods –from newspaper ads to online job boards or head hunters – to fill the IT, sales and marketing positions at his rewards and recognition business.

Yet in a soft job market, he and a growing number of employers are favouring an option they say is faster, more efficient and a whole lot cheaper: social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn. The shift marks a sea change for the world of recruiting as the use of employee and customer networks to find candidates becomes the new normal.

“The world has changed – it will never go back,” said Mr. Suleman, who runs I Love Rewards Inc., which advises companies on employee incentive and recognition programs.

His approach is simple: distribute job postings to his employees, who then place them on their Facebook status updates, tweet them to friends who re-tweet them, and share them through LinkedIn networks. He sent out word about the jobs last Friday; this week, his company expects 1,000 people will show up at its two open houses.

Mr. Suleman underlines the potential savings with a comparison. The average cost of a newspaper ad is $5,000, while an online job board (which he still uses for niche positions) costs $700. Recruiting firms charge a percentage a new hire's salary; the price tag of using one to fill all 17 jobs would be $260,000, he figures.

Instead, he's paying a total of $1,800 for wine and cheese at the open house.

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