As layoffs continue businesses will expect to produce more talent with less help from third-party sources. There is a perceived notion that since there will be more people looking for work, job openings will be easier to fill. If you are not hiring from high demand talent areas or if your hiring standards suddenly decrease then perhaps this holds true. Lets face it, when companies downsize the sharpest people rarely get the first hand shakes if any at all.
Layoffs are about decreasing headcount while trying to maintain productivity.
In many and quite possibly most cases the first move corporate management will take is to stop introducing new searches to third-party suppliers or more drastically stop existing searches altogether and beef up internal initiatives. Lets come to grips with the fact that any company would do what it takes to cut their recruiting budget and that they will, given the change in the marketplace. The third-party recruiting sector will experience a decline in the total number of job orders received. Naturally one would conclude that revenue potential will also decrease but realistically how much your business is affected depends on the state of the industry your serve, the type of talent you specialize in and most importantly the relationship you have with your clients. All new business relationships go through a testing or courting phase which usually means the supplier has to perform regardless of circumstance.