The 2008 survey from the Chartered Institute for Personnel and development shows that 80 per cent of organisations do not currently use Web 2.0 online methods to attract or recruit employees with only 8 per cent planning to start using the technology in the next year.

Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social- networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.

The survey also revealed that 56% of respondents believe that social networking sites are useful for engaging potential job seekers and welcome its ability to shed light on how they are perceived in the marketplace. The majority, 62 per cent, are concerned that damaging comments about their organisation might be posted.

The favoured social networking sites include LinkedIn, 62 percent, Facebook, 58per cent and MySpace, 11%.

Respondents who use networking sites for recruitment believe that they provide an opportunity to bring the employer brand to life and create experiences online that allow potential employees to experience what it is like to work within the organisation.