There’s a classic saying that “the best laid plans...often go awry.” That may prove correct for the 63 percent of employers who plan to hire full-time, permanent staff in the next six months, according to CareerBuilder’s Midyear Job Forecast. Given the low unemployment rate, fewer people are looking for work, and the scarcity of available talent could thwart many employers’ hiring plans.
Employers are already struggling to find candidates to fill their positions. In fact, 50 percent of U.S. employers say it is taking them longer to fill jobs today than at any other point in time. The highly competitive hiring environment is spurring many employers to increase monetary incentives and perks for incoming talent and existing staff.
Customer service will be in the spotlight in the next several months, with 41 percent of employers planning to hire for these roles. There will also be a big push to hire for sales, information technology, product development and business development roles.
5 Recruiting and Hiring Trends Leading Up to 2019
The survey also revealed five emerging workforce trends we can expect to see in the back half of 2018.
Fatter Paychecks: Employers are hoping a little extra cash will go a long way in both attracting and retaining high performers. Nearly half of employers (45 percent) plan to increase starting salaries on new job offers in the coming months, and 58 percent will increase compensation for current employees before year end.
Perking Things Up: In another effort to entice more job seekers to apply, companies are adding extra employee perks and emphasizing them in their job offers. More than a third of companies (36 percent) hope casual dress codes will catch job seekers’ eyes, 31 percent will offer employee discounts, and 1 in 4 are giving employees the option to work remotely. Other popular incentives include extra PTO, signing bonuses, free lunches, gym memberships and work-from-home Fridays.
Tech Influence: For the majority of employers (69 percent), every job is essentially a tech job, as it has some sort of technical component to it. This perception is changing how employers recruit and interview for different roles.
Employees Moving On: The high demand for workers has made it a job seekers’ market - and they’re well aware of it, too. More than 1 in 5 workers (22 percent) say they are likely to take advantage of the hot job market and change jobs in the second half of 2018.
Temps are Hot: We will continue to see companies relying on contract and temporary workers to fill employment gaps. Forty-one percent of employers plan to hire temporary or contract workers in the third quarter of the year, with some planning to bring these workers on full-time.
Read the full 2018 Midyear Job Forecast now.
Matt Ferguson is the CEO of CareerBuilder.
