The COVID-19 Omicron variant is finally leaving us with fewer reported cases each day. However, it continues to have a lasting impact across industries, including the staffing and recruiting market.
Talent acquisition professionals worldwide face hiring challenges in the unprecedented recruiting market. These are attributed to high turnover rates, a huge amount of stress, and a significant change in candidate expectations.
The key to successful recruitment is being more adaptive to today’s fast-changing labor market trends. Since the old rules and strategies no longer hold as before, it’s time to adapt to the new reality.
The Shift in Recruitment and Marketing Priorities
There’s a significant shift in recruitment priorities where, before, recruiters were focused solely on filling vacancies as fast as possible. Today, it’s all about improving the quality of hires. Employers desperately trying to fill roles now think about the effectiveness of hiring in those roles.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) also reported an evident downward shift in importance in talent pipelining and crafting employer brands in the last five years. Conversely, the biggest upward shift was recruiting technology, automating processes, and improving diversity. So, how do these affect how recruiting should be managed this year? Let’s find out below.
Recruiting Market Trends in 2022
While the pandemic introduced new changes we’re starting to see in job-seeker behavior and the recruiting marketing landscape, it also accelerated the changes that started pre-COVID. Once recruiters understand that ways of working and the technologies available to us constantly shift, adapting to the current market trends becomes easier.
Where there’s a great challenge, there’s also a great opportunity. Here are the trends you should know to get a handle on what your candidates need today.
- Employee Well-Being Takes Top Priority
Smart recruiting managers know that their businesses are at risk of staff attrition. Those who can offer employee well-being plans will be able to attract top talent. Today, employee well-being is no longer just an employee benefit—it’s a value proposition. It’s an opportunity for employers to support employees in all areas of their professional and personal lives.
The goal is to cultivate a workplace that meets the needs of all workers. Wellness programs and flexible working arrangements allow employees not only time off but also time for themselves to focus on their mental and physical health. The pandemic has also expanded the need scope from employees to the entire family unit to include financial, social, and career wellness.
This calls for employers to shift their efforts from one-size-fits-all compensation and benefits packages to a personalized approach to well-being benefits. Don’t get left behind. This trend is the future of work.
- Employees Want Hybrid Work
We can all count on hybrid work to be around for years to come. According to Accenture’s survey, 83% of workers prefer a hybrid work model. The survey also states that 63% of high-growth companies have adopted a “productivity anywhere” workforce model. So, if you want to keep up with the times, you have to look into hybrid work.
Younger generations are so in tune with technology that some have a hard time understanding and appreciating office life. The idea behind hybrid work is owning results regardless of where or when work happens. This means that it’s critical for employers to define successful remote work practices.
- Employees Want to Work for Companies Who Match Their Values
According to a Cision PR Newswire article, eight out of ten employees said it’s essential for their company’s values to be aligned with their own. The same article discusses the gap between a company’s knowledge workers and company leaders in their stance on important issues.
The challenge for employers is how they bridge this gap in pay equity, workplace discrimination, racial justice, economic equality, and LBTQIA+ rights—75% of the surveyed workers said that they expect their employer to champion the good in society.
Moreover, employees are also likely to quit their jobs if their company’s values do not align with their own. You can act on this employee expectation by incorporating some corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts in your business.
- Skills-Based Hiring Is In
Skills-based hiring already existed pre-pandemic, but it’s only now that it’s become a buzzword, as more and more companies adopt this hiring strategy. With automation and artificial intelligence being huge driving forces in the labor market, technology has opened the gates to new jobs requiring new skills. With rising demand, the recruiting market trends follow.
Companies are choosing to set specific skills and competency requirements for their job openings rather than only looking at a candidate’s credentials. This is because skills-based hiring expands the prospective talent pool and allows internal employees to have opportunities for career mobility. This hiring strategy is an overall win for employees and employers.
- The Role of Human Resource Professionals Is Redefined
Gone are those days when human resource managers (HRMs) were simply responsible for recruitment processes. Nowadays, HRM practices are redefined and considered more crucial because of the impact of the pandemic on today’s workforce.
At the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, we all thought we were dealing with a health care issue alone. But three years in, we know that we’re facing a complex issue that concerns businesses and people, and HR leaders are crucial to its response.
HR managers face a long list of issues, ranging from leading with empathy to understanding other factors important to workers, such as flexible work options, healthy workplace environments, employee well-being, and a fair and equitable workplace for all.
Adapting to Today’s Market Means Being People-First
We’re entering a new era of work, and it requires HR and business leaders to step up. The global pandemic has practically demanded a new way of thinking. So, it’s a great chance to reflect and ask ourselves: What has changed in your staffing agency during the pandemic? How are you going to enhance the employee experience moving forward?
As we consider these trends, one thing is clear: talent acquisition requires putting people first. It takes resilience, empathy, and transparency to adapt to today’s recruiting market successfully.
ABOUT ALLIED INSIGHT
Allied insight understands the importance of knowing how to navigate the current hiring market. We’re here to help! We deliver strategic recruitment marketing solutions that will elevate your staffing agency.
Allied Insight is a fractional CMO and growth marketing company specializing in leveraging the best practices of recruitment marketing, inbound marketing, SEO, lead generation, account-based marketing, and sales enablement. In today’s recruiting market, we can deliver strategic marketing solutions to help your staffing agency realize its full potential.
If you’re looking to get more insight into today’s recruiting market trends or are looking to get your business up to speed, contact us! We’ll be more than happy to jump on a call and see what we can do for you.
