By Stephanie Sparks, Content Marketing Manager

The seismic shift during the last two years has turned the labor market on its head. In the aftermath of a global pandemic, supply chain interruptions, the turbulent global economic and political landscape, rising inflation, and changing workers’ expectations, candidates have made it clear they want more from employers. And they are empowered to ask for it.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 11.2 million jobs available at the end of July 2022, with approximately two job openings for every unemployed American. The demand for workers is projected to continue to outweigh the supply for the foreseeable future. And employers continue to indicate competition for talent remains extremely tight. What are organizations like yours doing to compete? Data from the Employ Quarterly Insights Report has the insights you need.

Pressure in Unprecedented Market

Despite the uncertainty of recession or hiring slowdowns, organizations continue to experience record-level job openings. U.S. employers added 315,000 jobs in August. And the unemployment rate stands at just 3.7%, returning to pre-pandemic levels from February 2020.

Experts agree that the imbalance in labor supply and demand is structural and will not be short-lived. In addition to millions of job openings, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the labor shortfall will continue through at least 2030.

Roadblocks Recruiters Face

Within the current labor market, companies face several challenges that make recruiting more difficult. According to data from Employ, the biggest recruiting challenges recruiters are facing in attracting and hiring quality talent include:

  • Not enough talent to fill positions: 52%
  • Competition from other employers: 48%
  • Managing a high volume of candidates: 29%
  • The requirement to work onsite/in an office: 28%
  • Inability to compete with compensation requirements: 27%
  • Too many steps in the hiring process or too slow to offer: 24%
  • Too many open jobs within the business: 24%

Without enough talent to fill open roles, considerable competition from other companies, and multiple other factors mentioned above, it is no wonder that hiring is viewed as more challenging than ever. Only 28% of respondents believe the ‘The Great Resignation’ — referring to the trend of millions of employees voluntarily resigning from their jobs — is fully over. So, where are talent acquisition teams like yours focusing their efforts?

Where Your Company Can Enhance Hiring Processes

1. Increasing Speed of Hire

Hiring is a race for talent. Competing on speed is one of the most important areas recruiting organizations should seek to improve. According to Employ survey data, the average time-to-hire is under two weeks for 32% of respondents and between three to four weeks for 53% of respondents.

This means that for 85% of talent acquisition professionals, the average time-to-hire is 4 weeks or less. Further, 48% of recruiters say time-to-hire is shorter today than just one year ago. If you are not finding areas within your recruiting process to shorten, then you are likely missing out on key talent to competitors. Identify areas you can decrease, whether it’s sourcing time, screening time, feedback loops from internal hiring teams, or offer times. When you do, you’ll find you can enhance your ability to connect with available talent.

2. Investing in Recruitment Technology Spend

For recruiting to function as a strategic lever within an organization, business and talent leaders must provide recruiters with the tools and resources necessary to compete in a fierce labor market.

Recruiters recognize the need for additional tools, which is supported by Employ data, with 63% of HR decision makers and recruiters anticipating that an increase in recruiting technology spending would be necessary in the next 6 – 12 months.

3. Exploring Recruitment Process Outsourcing

According to Employ survey data, 47% of companies plan to invest in additional sourcing, including recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), to help them address current challenges they face in the hiring market. In addition, 30% of recruiters feel less stress when they have more recruiters or recruiting resources, including a strategic RPO provider or automated sourcing technology.

One of the main benefits of working with an RPO provider, like NXTThing RPO, is that it frees up internal resources so the business can focus on other strategic talent acquisition priorities. RPO teams also ensure internal talent teams have real-time information and data on requisition health and other key performance metrics, including time-to-hire, quality of hire, recruiting efficiency, source yield, and daily activity to keep the business in the know and able to report on recruiting effectiveness.

With RPO, organizations can speed time-to-hire and reduce hiring costs, scaling more easily as the business demands. Employ data reveals that companies using recruitment process outsourcing have seen a 50% increase in quality of hire. And deployment time can begin in just 24 hours to reduce the time it takes to fill critical roles.

Go Deeper on Talent Market Insights

For a complete look at the evolving talent landscape and recruiting insights that can help you better compete for talent, download the  Employ Quarterly Insights Report:  “Staying the Course In a Challenging Labor Market.”

To see what an RPO can do for your organization, contact the experts at NXTThing today.