An exciting year ahead for the recruitment industry

Job vacancies on the rise

According to the Office of National Statistics the number of job vacancies in February to April 2022 has risen to a new record of 1,295,000. The ONS also reported that from January to March this year, for the first time, the number of vacancies was larger than the number of people unemployed, following continued vacancy growth and declining unemployment.

Talent shortages will keep candidates in the driving seat

Research completed by Broadbean UK, highlights that candidates will continue to have power in the market over the course of the next year. In 2022, employers will need to work very hard to improve pay and working conditions, and to offer more incentives for talent to join them.

In addition, research from the Jump Advisory Group identifies one of the biggest challenges of 2022 will be retention: - retaining employees, developing them, and watching them mature alongside the industry will be a real challenge for all employers in the year ahead. 

Following two years of working from home amid the global pandemic, many employees have re-evaluated what they expect from employers. After a period in which their work and their willingness to make sacrifices, which have been crucial for the success of their employers, many employees are now substantially less willing to settle for business as usual.

Candidates now consider a much broader picture when deciding where they want to work, and a employer’s overall brand and offering has never been more important. While salary and benefits will always be a high priority, candidates also now place much more importance on other aspects such as long-term and continuous professional development opportunities, the workplace culture, and an employer’s focus on wellbeing, inclusion and diversity.

The pattern in recruiting talent is changing for employers

With more people leaving their business than normal, employers are increasingly concerned that the shifting patterns of the market will impact their ability to bounce back from the pandemic – especially as they are also struggling to attract new talent.

Of the businesses polled by Grant Thornton, 50% were struggling to recruit new people to replace the talent being lost, while 53% were having difficulty filling new roles to support their growth. As firms look to secure their operations in this new war for talent, they are having to drastically overhaul their onboarding strategies.

Further research from Grant Thornton has found the rise in hybrid working has allowed people to achieve a better work-life balance, while still providing the opportunity for collaboration and human connection in the office environment. Employers who offer this continued flexibility will be much better placed to attract and retain talented employees than those who don’t.

The fundamental change to ways of working also means that it is more important than ever for employers to ensure they have effective people managers.

What is left out of this conversation

What is left out of the conversation thus far is an important part of the hiring process:- the recruiters. In the early days of the virus outbreak, recruiting professionals, in-house corporate human resources, and talent acquisition personnel were furloughed or fired, as hiring skidded to a dead stop in some industries. Now, however, it is the opposite.

The Wall Street Journal reports that they are not enough recruiters around to help place people. Recruiters are busier than ever in today’s market, and there are not enough of them to go around. As companies struggle to fill positions, postings for recruiter positions have exploded, more than doubling since the start of the year.

A recent search for “recruiters” on LinkedIn shows 421,918 job listings. Recruiters are in a unique profession and position; it has never been a better time to become a recruiter!

Now is the time for recruitment agencies to lead

Need for recruiters has never been more paramount for employers in recruiting talent. 2022 forecasts for the recruitment industry range from a renewed focus on employer branding and an emphasis on technology that supports human-to-human interactions, to the cementation of recruitment as a professional service.

Now is the time for recruitment agencies to enhance how recruiters, employers, and candidates work together by acquiring knowledge and education of recruitment market trends to inform the best way of finding and retaining talent. Research from Cloudcall highlights the number of jobs offering flexible and remote working has meant that talent pools are not restricted to a commutable radius around an office.

The market has become very candidate-led, with each candidate receiving multiple offers. Employers will really have to focus on their employer branding to secure the most qualified applicants. Recruiters need to be proactive to educate employers in market changes of finding talent.

Recruitment agencies, consultants, and technology will come to the fore

2022 will be about using technology to get back to what recruitment is all about: person-to-person interactions and conversations. Research from Access Recruitment concludes that the right technology empowers recruitment agencies to become easily scalable, stay ahead of the competition by boosting candidate attraction, and to improve efficiency and productivity by removing manual tasks.

In 2022, with the right technology behind them, recruitment companies are equipping themselves to stand out and succeed in an increasingly strong and competitive market. Smart employers will utilise the services of various recruiters who are armed with a strong and varied skillset, and possess the necessary tools to source talent, whether that be through job boards, social media, headhunting, referrals, or well-nurtured networks.  

As employers are forced to look outside of their usual ‘go to’ channels to source candidates, they are discovering increasingly sophisticated tech tools at their disposal. The rise of programmatic platforms is enabling recruitment professionals to expand their reach, and target the ideal candidates, while saving both time and money.

Employers need to work proactively with recruitment professionals, as getting on the radar of ‘passive candidates’ as well as ’active candidates’ requires a positive approach. This places Job Bank as a product, its recruiters, its technology, and its clients in a unique and enviable position which facilitates how recruiters and businesses connect and work together to find talent.