11 tips for hiring when there’s a labor shortage

The following strategies can help you learn how to overcome recruiting labor shortage challenges before you make your next hire.

1. Know your hiring needs

Anticipating upcoming staffing needs can help you prepare for hiring in a labor shortage. If you know a manager is nearing retirement, you can identify promising current employees who could move into the role. Knowing the timeline of an upcoming project that will require new positions helps you start recruiting early for those jobs.

It’s also helpful to understand how difficult it is to hire for various positions. Some vacancies are more challenging to fill than others. You may have plenty of applicants for your restaurant management positions, but you might struggle to find enough servers to keep up with customer demand. Highly skilled positions that require a license may be more difficult to fill if there’s a general lack of credentialed professionals in the industry. Being aware of the challenging positions to fill can help you focus your attention and get creative with your recruiting efforts.

2. Clarify your criteria

A labor shortage might reduce how many applicants you get, but it shouldn’t force you to lower your standards significantly or settle for a candidate who lacks the proper credentials. Review your hiring criteria for the position to distinguish between required and preferred qualifications. Note which requirements are non-negotiable and which can be a little more flexible.

Don’t forget that many skills can be taught. New hires can learn how to use different software programs or equipment on the job. Look for an overall strong candidate who will fit well with the team and bring them up to speed on easy-to-learn skills once they start.

3. Take a continuous recruiting approach

You might not have a vacancy right now, but a position could open at any time. Retirements, better job offers, career changes, parents staying home—many situations could leave you suddenly seeking job candidates.

Include general application information on your careers page to encourage applicants to submit their information year-round. You might include a note to tell job seekers that while you may not have a position that fits their skills now, you’re always looking for great talent. Create a generic online application or list an HR email address where interested parties can send their resumes.

When you have a job opening, you already have a database of candidates. Start scanning those resumes while you wait for new applications to roll in once you post your job ad.

4. Make applying easier

No matter how much a job seeker wants a new opportunity, they don’t want to jump through hoops to apply. Streamlining your application process encourages casual job seekers to submit an application since it won’t take them long. Ask for the most important information to help evaluate their skills. Instead of making applicants enter their work experience into an application, let them upload a resume for a faster experience.

5. Review what you offer

If candidates get multiple job offers, their decision often comes down to the perks. Look at your overall compensation strategy, which includes all forms of compensation for employees like salaries, benefits and PTO. Compare what you offer employees to the industry standards and your competitors. Determine if what you offer is competitive or if you’re losing potential employees because of it. You can also get feedback from your current employees to find out if you’re meeting their needs or should add more.

6. Make your perks better

Even if your compensation package is on par with competitors, you can make little improvements to give your company the edge. Look at cost-effective ways you can upgrade the perks and attract more applicants. Here are some options to consider:

• Increase your salary ranges
• Add hiring bonuses for hard-to-fill positions
• Offer consistent raises and bonuses
• Cover more of your employees’ health insurance premiums or offer upgraded plan options
• Offer more PTO or switch to an unlimited PTO model
• Increase extra perks like commuter benefits, tuition reimbursement, pet insurance and child care assistance
• Introduce flexible working options, such as individual start and finish times or remote work
• Promote from within to offer advancement opportunities

Your budget helps determine how you can improve your compensation packages. Many perks are inexpensive for you but can make a big impression on job seekers. For instance, offering some flexibility in the hours your employees work doesn’t add to your expenses. However, it can make the job more compatible with the applicant’s personal responsibilities.

7. Improve your company culture

You’ll naturally attract more applicants if your organization is known as an employee-friendly place to work. Your current employees might tell their friends about the great things you offer or do for your employees. Working on your company culture to create an employee-centered, diverse workplace is a good start. Focus on helping your current employees feel valued and safe.

8. Market yourself as an employer

Most of your marketing efforts likely focus on promoting your products and services to clients. However, you can also use marketing strategies to attract candidates. Promoting your company culture, benefits and other things that make your company unique and attractive can spark interest from new applicants. Help job seekers picture themselves working for your company. You can do this by adding details to your careers page, encouraging current employees to be promoters and offering behind-the-scenes insight intoworking for your company.

9. Tap into previous connections

You likely have past connections that could potentially drum up prospective hires. Looking through previous applications could help you find a candidate who matches a current opening even if they weren’t a good fit previously. Always keep past applications on file for this purpose.

Previous employees might also help you fill a position during a labor shortage. Perhaps a former staff member who moved to a different city is back in your area, or you might now offer remote positions that they can fill from afar. Your new vacancy may be a promotion for a past employee who left to work for another company. Reach out to former employees who had a good performance record and left on good terms to see if they’re interested in coming back.

10. Diversify candidate sourcing methods

When recruiting in a labor shortage, expanding the places you look for candidates can help you find more applicants. Consider the ways you currently find candidates and evaluate how successful each option is. Try new sources for candidates, which might include:

• Job boards
• Social media posts
• Paid online advertisements
• Employee referrals
• Client referrals
• College recruitment
• Career fairs
• Internships
• Professional organizations
• Industry contacts
• Email newsletters
• Industry-specific online communities
• Recruitment firms
• Conferences and other industry events
• Career open houses

11. Don’t stop with the job offer

Your top pick accepted the job offer. You might think your work is done, but hiring a candidate is just the beginning. To avoid being in the same situation again, you also need to work on retaining your employees. Create a top-notch onboarding process that helps new hires feel settled and part of the work community quickly. Give your employees the support and resources they need to excel in their roles. Encouraging employees to stay saves money and reduces how much recruiting you have to do during a labor shortage.