Recruiting Priorities
Recruiters face a variety of challenges in today’s market, the biggest being the demand from candidates for higher pay due to inflation (63%) and a shortage of talent (52%). In that same vein, many claim attracting qualified candidates for open roles is their biggest obstacle (50%). Other key market challenges include: candidate desire for remote work (62%) a flexible schedule (57%), economic uncertainties related to a potential recession (52%), demand for additional benefits (52%), and high turnover (51%).
In light of these challenges, organizations have flagged several top priorities for recruiting including increasing retention rates (59%), growing the talent pipeline (51%), and improving the speed of the hiring process (48%). Job Boards (57%) and Social Networks (52%) are top tools many leverage to accomplish these priorities, with many claiming increased investments in these areas as well (50% claiming increased investment for social media, 49% for job boards).
Recruiting Tools
Beyond Job Boards which the vast majority claim to leverage to find candidates (77%), employee referrals (71%) and company websites (67%) are also commonly used, with ease of use (75%) and the volume of applications (58%) being Recruiters’ favorite things about the job boards they currently use.
When it comes to in-house tools, the potential addition of AI solutions in 2024 tops the list (40%), while the next highest group of recruiters (35%) have no plans to add to their tech stack in the next 12 months. Current 3rd party tools/solutions are largely paid for via subscription/licensing payments (58%), though preference for how they pay for these types of tools is split: flexible/ pay as you go payments (38%) are the top preferred followed closely by subscription/licensing payments (34%) and outright/one time purchasing (27%).
Working with Candidates
When it comes to working with candidates, over half of hiring managers read candidates entire resume (63%), with the most important things they look for on a resume being the candidate’s skills (82%) and the years of experience they have related to the role (76%). When asked specifically about candidates they work with, unsurprisingly, benefits (59%) and compensation (55%) are the top things noted as getting new hires most excited about joining a company. Flexible work location options (35%) and a company’s reputation (33%) are also important.
Shifts in Recruiting Related to the Economic Climate and Looking Ahead to 2024
Despite uncertain economic conditions over the last year, many recruiters said that their 2024 recruiting budget remains the same (57%), with more noting budget increases vs. decreases (29% vs. 13%). Beyond budgets, most feel that they have an appropriate amount of workload and resources available to accomplish the tasks they are responsible for (59%), though 35% have been asked to take on more with fewer resources in the past year. While more recruiters plan on sticking with full-time vs. part-time employees, 42% said they plan to use more contract workers in 2024.
As the recruiting community looks ahead to 2024, we asked recruiters an open-ended question of “what do you feel you most need to succeed in 2024 hiring?” The top responses were:
- Hiring qualified/experienced candidates
- Hiring employees that want to work/are willing to learn
- Having a larger number of candidates/applicants
- Needing a bigger budget/more financial support
- Creating a more efficient and faster hiring process
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