What new challenges and opportunities will 2015 bring to the staffing and hiring arena? What obstacles will hiring managers face as the economic slowdown fades into the rearview mirror and the labor market tightens? Unemployment is dropping, higher education is in a state of flux, and manufacturing facilities are returning to domestic shores after decades of outsourcing…And these trends are just the beginning. What else will 2015 hold? Here are a few of the trends that may shape the landscape during the year ahead.
Skills Gaps are Real… and Some of them Will Widen
There’s been much talk of “skills gaps” in certain corners of healthcare, manufacturing and tech industries. Very specific positions (for example, specialized machine operators for oil and gas drilling enterprises) require candidates who can be hard to find. And this challenge deepens in remote areas that are far from universities and population centers. If you’re facing a skills gap already, expect your challenges to increase. Get ready to cast a wider net and offer greater compensation and relocation benefits.
Competition will Tighten for Top Talent
As talented candidates gain more opportunities, employers will have to work harder to land these candidates before their competitors do. The days of month-long interview cycles and aggressive interview sessions are long over. On order to attract the candidates you’re looking for, make sure your process is professional, respectful, and short.
New Employees Won’t Stay for Long
The average tenure for entry and mid-level employees under the age of 35 now falls between two and three years. But as opportunities expand for this group, this average tenure may shorten even further. Employers may need to temper the investment they make in each employee in terms of training, and the selection process may need to favor candidates who plan to stay for a while.
Baby Boomers will Leave en Masse
Older workers are about to retire in huge waves, which will leave a host of open positions at senior and management levels. These positions can’t be easily filled with new graduates, so in order to keep every position occupied, employers will need to build long and stable pipelines and create long term hiring plans.
Social Media will Play a Larger Role in Hiring
During the coming year and into the foreseeable future, candidates will be relying more than ever on their networks in order to find leads and land positions. Most of this networking and social connectivity will take place over the internet. If you haven’t started building an online presence and engaging with social media, start now. Otherwise, you’ll start rapidly falling behind.
For more on how to stay ahead of the hiring curve and attract the best candidates on the market, arrange an appointment with the staffing team at Expert.