Top recruiting trends for the year ahead
1. Automation
In a labor market that has far more job openings than job seekers, time is of the essence for employers with open positions. Companies must be agile enough to quickly identify the highest quality candidates, interview them and extend offers before competitors do. Unfortunately, many aspects of the hiring process, such as screening résumés and sending emails, prove cumbersome.
To improve hiring efficiency and save time, many recruiters are likely to turn to HR automation. A study from Bluehorn found that staffing and recruiting firms that adopt HR automation fill 64% more jobs and submit 33% more candidates per recruiter. HR automation software such as chatbots, AI screeners and email responders can streamline processes for companies across industries, allowing hiring managers to move from posting a job to extending an offer much more quickly.
Related: 10 Recruitment Tools for Getting the Most out of the Hiring Process
2. Short-term hires
Not everyone who exited their roles during The Great Resignation has chosen to remain out of the labor market. A study by McKinsey & Company found that 47% of employees who quit before obtaining a position with another company return to the workforce. However, less than 30% go back to full-time employment. This statistic uncovers a potential pool of candidates for companies that often goes untapped.
Due to increased pressure to fill job openings, companies may increasingly seek candidates who aren’t looking for full-time permanent positions. Hiring executives and professionals on a short-term basis through labor contracts can allow companies to maintain business continuity and buy them additional time to locate the right permanent hire. With the American Staffing Association reporting that around 40% of temporary staffing employees work in managerial, professional, engineering, IT, scientific and healthcare fields, many companies will likely be able to find temporary workers with the skills and experience needed to succeed in open positions.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Contract to Hire
3. Virtual hiring
Although offices have reopened across the country, fully on-site employment has yet to make a complete comeback, and data shows it likely never will. A survey conducted by Gallup revealed that 24% of employees in remote-capable jobs anticipated remaining exclusively remote beyond 2022, and another 53% said they would be engaging in hybrid work split between the office and home. Only 23% believed they would be working fully on-site in 2023 and beyond.
With hybrid and remote work continuing to dominate, remote recruiting will likely remain a key recruitment trend over the next year. Employers who make the shift to virtual interviewing may benefit from meeting candidate expectations and sourcing from a larger pool of applicants.
4. Mental health support
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report found that levels of workplace stress are at an all-time high, with 44% of respondents stating they experienced significant stress the day before completing the survey. Stress and anxiety were key drivers of this year’s Quiet Quitting phenomenon. Employees feeling burned out and stressed are no longer willing to go the extra mile and see taking a step back as a way to protect their mental health.
The fallout from Quiet Quitting will help shape recruitment trends in 2023. For hiring managers, it isn’t enough to just find a candidate who holds the right combination of skills, experience and education. They must now consider how engaged a prospective employee is likely to be in their new role. In addition, they’ll need to demonstrate how the company prioritizes mental health by emphasizing employee assistance programs, paid mental health days and other initiatives.
Learn more: 9 Emotional and Mental Health Benefits to Offer
5. Hiring from within
With candidate pools likely to remain small throughout 2023, more employers will need to look internally to fill open positions. Through upskilling initiatives, companies can help current team members develop the hard and soft skills needed to take on new responsibilities and enter leadership positions. In 2023, employers are likely to launch tuition reimbursement programs to provide more educational opportunities to employees and expand mentorship and management training programs.
By leaning into upskilling, companies can reap additional benefits. Investing in employees’ growth and development can cultivate loyalty and improve both workplace morale and job retention. Moving current employees into higher-paying positions also allows HR professionals to focus on filling entry-level positions. Internal hiring can also expedite the recruitment process, as it eliminates the need for checking references and running background checks.
6. Branding and company values
Branding will likely become vital for more than just marketing efforts in 2023. You can also expect it to be among the top trends in recruiting. Indeed & Glassdoor’s Hiring and Workplace Trends Report 2023 reveals that establishing and promoting company culture will be key to attracting and retaining employees throughout the year ahead.
A survey from the World Economic Forum illustrates the importance of company culture. It revealed that nearly 60% of those changing jobs hope to find an employer whose values are a better match for their own. Beliefs beat out lifestyle fits, compensation and advancement opportunities, showing just how vital company values have become to successful recruitment.
In 2023, hiring managers and HR professionals will need to highlight the strengths of company values, promoting them as part of their overall brand. This can begin as early as the job description writing phase by adding a mission or value statement and can continue through the offer stage by reinforcing the mission through communications.
7. Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion
Another key finding of Indeed & Glassdoor’s Hiring and Workplace Trends Report 2023 was a slight decline in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. In the current tight labor market, companies are reexamining priorities.
Unfortunately, this reprioritization doesn’t line up with many employee values. Nearly two-thirds of surveyed workers said they would leave a company or turn down an offer if they believed an organization or a manager didn’t value DEI. This finding indicates that companies who continue with DEI efforts and promote inclusive employment may have a competitive edge when it comes to attracting quality candidates.
Learn more: DEI: What Is It and How Can Employers Build It in the Workplace?
8. Passive candidates
The days of recruiting passive candidates only for C-suite positions may be coming to an end. When responses to job postings is poor, companies may need to begin contacting passive candidates for positions across experience levels. A study conducted by the Alliance of Professionals and Consultants, Inc. (APC) found that passive jobseekers make up nearly three-quarters of the candidate pool available to recruiters. In other words, for every response a company receives, there may be as many as three other people who would be interested in the position but haven’t applied.
Finding ways to reach out to the sector of the workforce looking for a change but not actively seeking employment will likely be one of the dominant recruiting trends for the coming year. As a result, social media, in-person networking, employee referrals and online job platforms such as Indeed may become even more important sourcing tools in 2023.
