How to attract talent during a tight labor market

Despite the challenges of a tight labor market, small and medium-sized businesses have good reasons to remain optimistic during labor shortages.

Our survey found that 93% of SMBs believe their company will grow and have even more job opportunities over the next year. Not only that, but SMBs are open to doing what they can to attract talent, with 78% of respondents saying they’ve changed their hiring practices to attract candidates.

Below are six methods that can help you attract talent for holiday hiring:

1. Offer flexibility and diversity in employee roles

Consider diversifying the roles of individual workers and offering a flexible work schedule. Many employees today are drawn towards job positions that offer a variety of responsibilities, as this can provide a sense of challenge, growth, and fulfillment in their careers.

Additionally, having the option to be flexible with work hours and tasks can add to a job’s appeal. An example of diversity and flexibility in the retail industry might be offering employees split shifts, in which they work two days a week in customer service and the rest of the week in management while allowing flexibility in the hours and days they work.

2. Offer competitive wages and incentives

One thing that many retailers are doing in the current pre-holiday market is increasing incentives for potential employees.

As part of their incentive optimizations, many employers are increasing wages temporarily, offering hiring bonuses and, in some cases, even offering long-term wage increase contracts for anyone who joins their workforce during the holidays. Certain employers have given hourly wage increases to existing employees, with an equivalent amount offered to new hires. Other employers have simply implemented minimum wage increases across the board.

To improve your employee holiday hiring outcomes, consider offering higher wages, bonuses or additional perks and putting that information in your job descriptions. Here are 28 hiring incentives to consider for your business.

At Indeed, we know job seekers are looking for this information as job searches for hiring incentives are on the rise. This is likely to increase further during the peak holiday seasons. For example, in 2021, we saw:

• The share of employers offering incentives and bonuses rose, with job postings advertising hiring incentives such as signing bonuses, retention bonuses, and cash incentives. As of December 3, 2021, 5% of job postings on Indeed advertised hiring incentives like signing bonuses or cash incentives. That’s a substantial increase from 2.5% from the previous year.
• We found that companies that disclose salary information received more responses from candidates—75% of new jobs posted directly on Indeed provided salary information.

3. Highlight your company culture

Along with hiring incentives, tell candidates what’s in it for them. Job seekers have a lot of options, so sharing what makes your company unique can help you stand out. For example, list your business’s benefits and perks in your job descriptions. Even if you don’t offer unique perks like free lattes or an onsite gym, describe the benefits you do offer. For instance, how does your health insurance stack up against the competition?

Since seasonal workers may not be eligible for the full range of benefits your company offers, explain what they can participate in. Alternatively, consider offering benefits for everyone—even temporary workers—which can build a positive workplace culture.

You can highlight your company’s unique culture on your Indeed Company Page or social media accounts to attract candidates. Sharing photos and videos that show what it’s like to work for your company can help you compete in a market with a high demand for labor.

4. Conduct virtual interviews

Conducting virtual interviews is a great way to speed up holiday hiring. It provides a stress-free method for both employers and job seekers. Many small and medium-sized businesses have found virtual interviewing an efficient tool for screening candidates.

In fact, 81% of SMBs in Indeed’s survey said they have already implemented some form of virtual recruiting practices. Of those, 92% plan to continue to conduct virtual interviews or make hires virtually in the future.

While 79% of employers in our survey said they received more applicants, over 70% also cited speed to hire, ease of scheduling, and an improved candidate experience as benefits of virtual interviewing.

Indeed’s virtual interviews and our own set of virtual hiring tools can help you manage the process from job post through interview. 

5. Support remote work when possible

Remote work has become more common than ever. According to Indeed’s recent findings, 76% of SMBs said they are open to remote workers, and 80% said their company has hired remote talent in the last 18 months.

If the role you are hiring for can be done remotely, consider including this information in the job description. Indeed has a remote tag that helps you signal to job seekers whether a job is remote. This way, when a job seeker is searching for a job, they can quickly identify remote opportunities for long-term or short-term holiday work.

6. Use Indeed Assessments to streamline your hiring process

On Indeed, you can use Indeed Assessments to add skills assessments to your job postings or send them directly to candidates who have applied through the job posting. These skills assessments are useful for screening for abilities, experience, skills, personality, or aptitude related to a variety of roles and industries, including technology, sales, and, especially, customer service in the context of holiday employment. 

For example, an employer who posts a position for a marketing manager can now add skills tests such as “social media experience” and “search engine optimization ability” to the job posting. Applicants can take these tests before or after they’ve applied for the job.

If you struggle to hire during the holiday season, you’re not alone. Small and medium-sized businesses find it especially difficult to compete with larger companies for the best talent.

By understanding the dynamics and incentives that can help your business stand out, you can attract the right talent during the holiday season—even in a tight labor market.