There is definitely some frustration with clients currently, with regards to the phrase 'direct recruiting'. While they are happy to moan about lack of candidates, expensive recruitment agencies and how tough it is to recruit staff, they don't want to seem to do anything about their moaning!! They seem very happy to just continue as they are without looking at other options. There are of course companies that are creative with their recruitment and it is usually around implementing direct recruiting strategies.
Just to highlight that direct recruiting isn't as daunting as some people think, I have produced a guide called Direct Recruiting: 5 Top Tips for Success to demonstrate that using different channels can really add value to recruiting staff directly. It provides tips on using five different direct channels to hire staff.