Contributor

Greg Savage

Leader of the global recruitment industry

Over a career spanning thirty years, Greg is an undisputed leader of the global recruitment industry, and is a regular keynote speaker at staffing conferences around the world.



After graduating with Honours in Psychology, Greg started his career in Executive Search in Australia, before he went on to manage the London office of the United Kingdom’s largest accounting recruiter for two years. In the early 1980s he returned to Australia to run the Sydney office of Accountancy Placements (now the Hays Group), where he was invited to join the Board of Directors at age 27.



Greg founded Recruitment Solutions in 1987, and rapidly built the start-up across Australia and New Zealand, culminating in eight offices, 200 staff, and annual sales of $60,000,000. Such was Recruitment Solutions’ success that, in July 1998, the company was successfully listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, with Greg at its helm as both Executive Director and COO.



April 2001, Greg joined Aquent as Asia-Pacific CEO. In 2005, he was promoted to Aquent International CEO, and assumed responsibility for all Aquent businesses outside of North America, which then comprised of over 25 offices across Europe, the United Kingdom, India, South East Asia, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.



In 2010 Greg acquired the Permanent and Search business of Aquent in Europe, Asia and Australasia, via a management buy-out, and founded Firebrand Talent Search. He quickly created a global brand for this specialist Digital and Marketing recruiter, and successfully sold the business, in 7 countries, in January 2013



In recognition of his contribution to the Australian recruitment industry, Greg was made an Honorary Life Member of the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association (RCSA) in 2004. He was subsequently elevated to Fellow (FRCA). In addition Greg was the inaugural winner of the highly prestigious RCSA “Outstanding Contribution to the Recruitment Industry” Award 2011.



Greg’s annual speaking tours are eagerly anticipated by those both inside and outside the recruitment industry, and he still holds records for RCSA Event attendee numbers across Australia. He has also spoken at Recruitment Conferences in North America, Japan, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, South Africa and New Zealand.



An early adopter of social media for recruiting, Greg’s industry blog – The Savage Truth – is a must-read for recruitment consultants, while his Twitter feed similarly attracts thousands of followers from around the world.



Greg acts as a Non-Executive Director for six recruitment companies in Australia and New Zealand. He is Chairmen of two of these.



Greg now provides consulting, advisory and training services to recruitment, professional services and social media companies across the world.