Hiring in 2024 has changed significantly. There's a trend toward a more flexible hiring process, with an increased focus on skill-based diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and varied benefits programs. Companies with conventional hiring pipelines that focus on employees with concrete career paths may overlook people waiting for the right opportunity to showcase their talent.
While AI can help match employers with job seekers, it fails to recommend people from untapped talent sources, or “hidden workers,” due to existing bias in its systems. In fact, according to a Harvard study, there are over 27 million hidden workers in the U.S., and an overwhelming 94% of employers believe their hiring processes filter out skilled potential employees because they do not match the exact criteria.
This guide will help you recognize the untapped talent sources you might be missing and give you five steps to improve your hiring process.
Untapped talent sources you may have overlooked
Here is a list of untapped talent sources for you to consider:
Veterans
According to the Pew Research Center, there are more than 18 million living veterans in the U.S. Each year, around 200,000 service members transition from military to civilian employment. Veterans bring a wealth of skills and experience from their military employment, including leadership, teamwork, discipline, and a strong work ethic. They're also very reliable in the workplace, handle stress well, and are loyal to their jobs.
However, there's a common misconception that veterans don't adapt well to civilian roles. This perspective needs to change. Veterans can be a great asset to your team if given the opportunity to prove themselves.
Retirees
Retirees have a lifetime of working experience and may have performed different roles in various projects and domains, essentially wearing multiple hats. The number of people in the workforce over the average retirement age (65) has increased four-fold since the mid-1980s, with the 75-and-above age group showing the fastest increase in employment rates. Many retirees are looking to return to the workforce to help younger workers as mentors or advisors.
There's a common myth that retirees are less productive and more resistant to new technologies than younger workers, but recent trends clearly disprove this. Depending on the roles you're looking to fill, these employees can be of great value in providing strategic guidance, mentoring teams, and bridging knowledge gaps through their expertise, dedication, and methodical approach.
Caregivers
According to A Place for Mom, almost 17% of the U.S. adult population provides unpaid care to an adult over 50, and three-quarters of this group are women. Although they are unpaid, carers work the same hours as a full-time employee.
How can they contribute? Carers are equipped with core skills that are essential to the workplace, including multitasking, resilience, and empathy. In addition, they are adaptable and have a strong sense of responsibility, which can be valuable in health care, human resources, and customer-centric roles. This group can benefit from flexible scheduling and telecommuting options to remove barriers to entering the workforce.
People from underrepresented communities
People from underrepresented communities have few opportunities to display their skills and talent. The common misconception is that they can't be a good cultural fit. In fact, the opposite is true. When given equal opportunities, people from underrepresented communities can bring new perspectives, creative approaches, and fresh ideas to the workplace. This means better problem-solving, critical thinking, and questioning abilities, which are essential for any workplace's growth.
Immigrants and refugees
Many migrants work in underground economies due to legal issues and the muddy process of getting work permits, not to mention the lack of concrete infrastructure, streamlined processes, and support systems. Companies can coordinate and work toward hiring immigrants to make the best of their multilingual abilities, diverse perspectives, cultural competence, and resilience.
People with past criminal records
In addition to the above groups, companies also restrict people with previous criminal records from applying. Though there's a misconception that employees may be concerned about workplace reliability and safety, an SHRM Foundation study finds otherwise: 85% of HR professionals and 81% of business leaders report that individuals with criminal records perform the same as, or better than, employees without criminal records.
When you hire people with criminal backgrounds, you reduce recidivism, improve community standing, and extend a hand to a workforce eager for an opportunity to prove themselves.
How you can hire people from untapped talent sources
Here's how you can improve your recruitment process to make it easier to reach out to, interact with, and hire people from untapped talent sources:
Create a culture of acceptance
One of the primary steps is to create a more welcoming and inclusive culture in your company. This makes people feel valued regardless of background. Without a culture of acceptance, people from untapped talent groups will continue to feel isolated from the rest of the workforce. So, before you make changes to your recruitment process, start with regular training sessions on diversity and inclusion for all employees, leaders, and C-suite executives. Core focus areas for training include:
- Unconscious bias
- Empathy
- Cultural competence
- Psychological safety
- Inclusive leadership
"When you hire people with criminal backgrounds, you reduce recidivism, improve community standing, and extend a hand to a workforce eager for an opportunity to prove themselves."
Raising this awareness can go a long way toward helping co-workers become more accommodating and responsible in their interactions and creating a safe and positive work environment for all.
Focus on refining your job descriptions
Next, you'll need to refine your job descriptions and ads to shift focus from strict requirements for advanced degrees or qualifications to skill-based ones. You should also encourage people from unconventional career paths or those with career breaks to apply.
Here are a few more tips for when you're advertising open positions:
- Keep the language simple, avoid corporate jargon, and write in a way that is easy for people to read and understand.
- Avoid gender and racial bias in any form in your job description.
- Avoid generic equal employment opportunity statements and instead add something unique and inviting.
- Use gender-neutral words and avoid using language geared toward a specific age group.
Implement diversity hiring practices
Implementing a diversity hiring strategy will require a collaborative effort from multiple departments and the leadership team. Here are some ways you can start:
- Provide inclusive hiring training to the recruitment team who are responsible for screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates.
- Highlight your DEI hiring practices on your website, ads, and social media channels, and inspire other brands to follow suit.
- Practice what you preach and hire quality talent from different underrepresented groups.
- Monitor your efforts by tracking metrics such as the number of people screened, shortlisted, and interviewed from untapped talent pools.
Collaborate with community organizations
Several community organizations work with underrepresented groups. You can collaborate with them to get fresh and in-depth perspectives and stories from people in these communities. This will help you understand their problems and work on potential solutions to make it easier for them to apply for jobs at your company. For example, many of these groups have limited access to the resources and mediums companies use to advertise positions.
Hire through diversity job boards
Job boards are one of the best ways to access quality talent easily. If you've been using traditional job boards, it's time to switch to ones that give access to quality talent from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Look for job boards that are aimed at women, differently-abled people, veterans, people from underrepresented groups and LGBTQ+ groups, and retirees looking to join the workforce.
Equal opportunities for all shouldn't just be a catchphrase. By implementing the steps in this guide, you can find out how "hidden workers" can contribute to your company's growth and create a positive and fulfilling work culture and environment for all.
Looking for quality candidates to hire? Post a job using CareerBuilder to get personalized and smart matches from varied diversity groups, underrepresented communities, and talent pools.
More tips to help you discover untapped talent sources
Here are the top workforce trends in 2024.
Here's how you can address the talent shortage by hiring retired employees who want to contribute.
Curious about how skill-based hiring is crucial in 2024? Learn more about why you should implement it right away.
