As 2023 approaches, companies may find themselves in a challenging situation to lure and retain talented and qualified individuals. The pandemic has transformed the way individuals work, leading to trend shifts in employment and hiring.
Recruitment and employment procedures have evolved drastically. Talent acquisition teams have been pushed to transform their hiring and retention strategies to become more effective, streamlined, and proactive.
Mentioned below are a few employment and hiring trends that we expect to see-
- Proactive recruitment strategy: In order to keep up with escalating living expenses, people are changing jobs frequently and shifting to various industries in quest of flexibility and work-life balance. As the great resignation continues, companies are offering competitive compensation and benefits. Apart from the common benefits that are offered by companies, candidates are also considering mental health benefits while deciding whether or not to accept a job offer.
Companies are also looking at different ways to engaging with possible talent proactively. This was a common practice for an executive level jobs however, which changing dynamics, it is becoming crucial for filling entry-level positions in order to attract top talent.
- A rise in internal mobility: Employees are no longer viewing of career advancement in traditional terms due to an unstable work environment. Individuals are moving to different departments within their current company, indicating an increasing trend in internal mobility. When deciding whether new positions are necessary and if not, which individuals could be a suitable fit for those roles, companies frequently analyze and execute workforce planning. Employers could also increase their internal talent mobility efforts by putting more of an emphasis on the talent development of their present workforce and by regularly providing internal candidates with training and certification opportunities to reskill/upskill them.
- Rise in Freelancing opportunities: In recent times, there has been an increasing trend in freelancing/contingent job opportunities. Companies are adapting to contract employment to fulfill executive/expert roles. Infact, many companies have also curated a special hiring process for these roles as the process varies drastically from that of a full-time employee.
- Disrupt by Technology/ AI: Artificial intelligence has evolved sourcing, identifying and engaging talent. From smart talent platforms to job portals, technology is only set to be more abundant prognosticating in assisting the right talent for the right role, evaluate skills, geographies etc.
- Increasing Employee retention activity and employer branding: The Great Resignation is yet in the future. No matter what happens with hiring, keeping the employees that companies have already invested in needs to be a primary concern. The value of employee experience was highlighted during COVID-19, and the trend has persisted.
The pandemic emphasised the necessity for employee listening programmes and for creating an environment that upholds employees’ health and wellbeing, encourages a healthy work-life balance, and provides them with the pleasant experience that will persuade them to stick around. It is also seen that companies that put a strong emphasis on creating a healthy workplace environment and corporate culture tend to be more successful.
This also impacts the candidate experience. Employers have enhanced the candidate experience by updating their career websites and employing surveys to obtain candidate input. Employer branding is crucial and is here to stay. It is essential that companies not just follow, but also portray themselves as a business that values the growth and welfare of its recruiters and other employees.
- Gen Z entering the workforce: The Gen Z generation is ready to start working in entry-level positions. They will want everything to be virtual and quick-paced, which is the main shift they will introduce into the recruitment industry. It is expected that they might not react well to the outdated hiring practises. As a result, employment and recruitment companies will need to prepare and adapt with changing times. At every stage of the hiring process, candidate engagement, mobile-optimized application workflows, and recruitment automation will be required. As Gen Z joins the workforce, Millennials have surpassed Gen X as the largest working cohort. This indicates a shift in workplace communication methods, values, and motivators and a need for companies to adapt.
(The author is Mr. Nilesh Dungarwal, COO, WorkIndia and the views expressed in this article are his own)
