Top 5 Hiring Trends in 2022

Top 5 Hiring Trends for 2022

Predicting hiring trends in 2022 is difficult, considering what we’ve all been going through. The only constant in this economy has been that it keeps changing. We’ve been changing to adapt, to lockdown, to open up, and so on. These past two years have been a whirlwind of change across all industries and it doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. It’s essential for employers to get ahead of what will make a difference to their current and future employees, which is why we turned to the experts from a variety of sources to take a look at hiring trends of 2022.

 

Top 5 Hiring Trends in 2022

There are quite a few predictions out there for anyone in the business of recruiting and hiring, but these are the top five that are the most likely to impact all of us:

  • Short Supply of Candidates Return to the Workforce
  • Advertising the Pay Rates Attracts 30% More Applicants
  • Remote Work Is Staying
  • Skills Matter More Than a Perfect Resume
  • Increase in Technology

 

Short Supply of Candidates Return to the Workforce

Labor shortages that defined the frustration of 2021 will continue in 2022. According to this study done by Glassdoor using information from the Department of Labor, there are only 0.74 unemployed Americans for every job opening as of September 2021. When removing temporary layoffs, the ratio is at 0.63, peaking at 1.2 earlier during the pandemic. That is far below what anyone has seen during past recessions.

Three major factors will keep hiring from recovering in 2022:

  1. The lingering pandemic
  2. The reduced pool of retirees and parents, due to multiple factors
  3. A heavier than expected customer demand

Combining those factors with others such as lowered immigration and an aging population, workplace trends in 2022 continue to show difficulty in hiring. The imbalance between labor supply and demand is so large that, depending on your location, even social changes like withdrawing enhanced employment benefits and reopening schools might not be enough to make a difference.

 

ADVERTISING-THE-PAY-RATES-ATTRACTS-30-MORE-APPLICANTS-Top-5-Hiring-Trends-of-2022

Advertising the Pay Rates Attracts 30% More Applicants

We all know that money talks, and it’s a huge part of the conversation right now. Between inflation and supply chain disruptions, Americans have had to pay more and a recent Bankrate survey has found that inflation is the top constraint on Americans’ outlook for their personal finances for the next year.

Just as in any other tight labor market, employers must do more than “post and pray” to appeal to applicants. Pay rates have shot up in response to the labor shortage. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly earnings has increased by 4.7 percent in 2021.

Danny Ashraf, Monster’s Direct of Sales, explained that promoting the salary range or hourly wage increases the number of applicants:

“We encourage all of our customers to put a salary range or hourly wage range on their job postings at the very top of the job.

We actually ran a pilot program, and the company found that when they added a salary or an hourly wage at the top of their job description, they had a 30% increase in conversions from job views to applies.

Companies are having to increase pay rates, offer better perks and benefits, and sometimes even offer signing bonuses. They’re having to do much more to attract and retain that type of talent.” –Danny Ashraf, Monster’s Director of Sales. 

If you’d like an increase in job applications, make sure to advertise a competitive pay rate.

 

Remote Work is Staying - Top 5 Hiring Trends of 2022

Remote Work Is Staying

Anyone in an office that has had to schedule and reschedule “return-to-office” dates won’t be surprised by this one, but remote and hybrid work models are now staying. It makes sense to hire remote workers, particularly with companies that are short-staffed. With a full range of options of remote jobs available, those offering remote work will still need to make sure that the pay rate is competitive.

Working remotely isn’t the perk it used to be and will need to have a competitive pay rate to stay relevant. With more remote work available, it’s all the more important that companies consider their competition nationwide when setting a pay rate.

 

Skills Matter More Than Experience - Top 5 Hiring Trends in 2022

Skills Matter More Than a Perfect Resume

Between the Great Resignation, massive layoffs, as well as a host of other career interruptions, it’s unlikely that most candidates will have the “ideal” resume. The workplace trends in 2022 are a result of 2021 and lots of people had to readjust their career expectations. Going forward, what was once red flags on a resume will be more acceptable, such as having gaps of time between jobs and job-hopping.

The volume of hires is the highest it’s been since LinkedIn started tracking in 2015  and “it’s causing companies to think about their hiring practices in more expansive ways,” says Dan Shapero, LinkedIn’s chief operating officer. “Whereas in the past it might have been based on your experience — where did you go to school? Where did you work before? — companies are coming up with a broader range of ways to assess who is good at what that isn’t so directly tied to their prior experience,” Dan then went on to give the example of a sales operations manager being considered for business development or strategy jobs.

The key to hiring will be figuring out how to use those transferable skills when changing positions. Industries such as manufacturing that hire for warehouse positions may want to expand the search to who can handle a fast-paced environment where safety is key, such as in restaurant kitchens or construction. When hiring, you’ll have more success if you cast a broader net than just posting the usual laundry list of requirements.

 

Increase in Technology - Top 5 Hiring Trends of 2022

Increase in Technology

Working remotely has put even more pressure on technology to take over when possible. With such a strong cultural shift towards higher pay and remote or hybrid working, it’s not surprising that investing in technology is the next step. Whether it’s investing in better automation, better-prepared software packages, or recruiting software to filter through the applicants, technology is going to be more involved than ever before.

That means that job applicants will have to do more to get a resume past the applicant tracking system, remote workers had better be prepared for new software, and that manufacturing employees need to improve their skills before they’re replaced by automation. Applicant tracking systems can be finicky and aren’t always effective at finding the right candidates, but they can be replaced by hiring a staffing company instead.  Computer software will still be a hot commodity as companies look to keep their remote work secure and provide automation wherever applicable.

 

Use These 5 Hiring Trends in 2022 To Your Advantage

The strongest trend, of all the hiring trends in 2022, is that this is the employee’s world now. With labor shortages continuing without an end in sight and consumer demand rising, employees are feeling empowered to demand more of their employers.  While employers can’t control what employees want, they can get ahead by recognizing needs and wants and being proactive instead of reactive.  While it is not clear when the health situation for the nation will improve, it is clear that building a strong plan for hiring and retaining employees is the best step forward for employers and employees alike.

 

Still can’t find new candidates? Contact NESC Staffing and see how we can help.

See more:

6 Best Ways to Retain Employees

7 Common Hiring Mistakes (and how to Avoid Them)

6 Ways Upskilling Solves Problems

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