Recruiting Focus During Uncertain Times

As we put a wrap on 2022 and the new year begins, we find ourselves swimming in tumultuous economic waters. In 2022 we witnessed an unpredictable stock market, skyrocket inflation and a confusing job market that defies logic. Needless to say, the only certainty we can count on in 2023 is in fact, uncertainty. So as Talent Acquisition Leaders work with the C-Suite to unpack workforce plans and hiring initiatives, there are a few areas to consider focusing on during these uncertain times.

Implement Your Pay Transparency Policy

State governments have started passing legislation on pay transparency. In Colorado in 2021, laws were passed to require businesses to list a salary range on job postings. As of January 1st, 2023, pay transparency laws went into effect in California, Washington state, and Rhode Island. Currently, Massachusetts and South Carolina have pending pay transparency legislation so if you haven’t created your Pay Transparency Policy, now is the time. New York state passed a similar law that will go into effect in September of 2023. Some companies that are not headquartered or have employees living in states without pay transparency laws are beginning to get on board with the trend.

Employees are valuing more and more the practice of pay transparency. Many potential applicants are not inclined to apply for a job when there is not adequate information about the compensation that the role entails. If a person still applies and goes through the interview process without the compensation information until an offer letter is provided, many potential hires could say no to the offer. This results in time wasted for both the potential hire and the company recruiting, in addition to the expense put towards recruiting for the potential hire to not pan out.

Pay transparency also helps work towards closing the gender pay gap. According to Payscale’s 2022 State of the Gender Pay Gap Report, women earn only 82 cents for every dollar men earn, not accounting for other demographic factors, such as age or race.

Create Your “Official” Hybrid Work Model

The hybrid work model is here to stay, so you can either embrace it or lose talent to your competitors…your choice. The technology to support this model has been here for years, and we all just figured out how to use it properly. Having the ability to interact and collaborate virtually is a game changer and it can be argued that it’s more efficient, and certainly more cost-effective. Regardless of whether you like it or not, it’s not going away and emerging technologies will only further cement its place in business. Our suggestion is to create a policy surrounding availability expectations and get more detailed with the performance plans for your workforce.

Upgrade Your Recruiting Tech Stack

Use this quiet time to upgrade your tech stack. There’s never a perfect time to evaluate the use of technology and make an upgrade but now is as good of time as any. We’ve seen a massive emergence of amazing technologies to help organizations source talent, and given the extraordinary talent shortage trends, technology should be the enabler of recruitment success. ATS platforms have expanded their CRM functionality, and pureplay recruitment CRM tools are using the latest in automation and AI to improve recruitment productivity and enhance the candidate experience. Take advantage of your slowdown to determine your short-term and long-term strategy around technology and put an action plan in place. There are a number of boutique consulting firms run by TA veterans who can effectively help you in this area without breaking the bank (we can provide you with suggestions if you email us at sales@netonerecruiter.com).

Augment Your Internal Team With Contract Professionals

Even if your company is in a hiring freeze, there are still projects to be completed and work to be done. Augmenting your internal teams with contractors is a great way to complete work without committing to long-term overhead. According to a recent Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) report, the total number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) contingent workers in the U.S. was 33 million in 2021. This equated to nearly $1.7 trillion of total spend. This is a trend that will only continue as individuals look for more flexible work arrangements. Embracing the use of contract professionals is a great way to quickly deploy specialized talent, reducing training requirements and the time to proficiency.

NetOne Recruiter is a future of work technology company who has reimagined how companies scale recruiting capacity, providing them with on-demand direct access to pre-vetted contract recruiters via our innovation recruiter marketplace. Click here to request a demo or simply sign up to start scaling your business.

Sources:

Top 9 Recruitment Trends to Expect in 2023

2023 Hiring and Recruitment Trends

Gender Pay Gap Improvement Slowed During Pandemic

Remote Work Evolves Into Hybrid Work, Productivity Rises

New Salary Transparency Laws Going Into Effect

New York State Governor Signs Statewide Pay Transparency Law

Freelance VS Fulltime