Since Covid-19 hit, nothing in the last year has been predictable – and this includes the recruitment market!
As we hit the one-year mark since lockdown, we’re all still trying to keep up with what’s happening in recruitment and align our strategies to the latest changes.
So to help you plan your strategy as we move out of the pandemic, here are four things happening in the recruitment market right now that you might not expect.
1. Some markets are still candidate short
I spend a lot of time speaking to recruiters, and something that’s really surprised me recently is that– despite unemployment being at a five-year high – some industries are still struggling to find candidates.
Industries like tech and healthcare have seen job numbers increase, but candidates in those markets are too skittish about Covid-19 to move. This combination has made these industries even more candidate short than before the pandemic.
And with government’s ‘green recovery’ plan we are likely to see even more candidate shortages in markets such as engineering, construction and manufacturing.
If you’re recruiting in one of these candidate-short markets, you can still make placements. Reassure your candidates that now is a good time to move jobs as the market is beginning to stabilise.
2. CFOs are optimistic right now
According to a decades-long survey of CFOs by Deloitte, business optimism is at its highest since 2007.
Thanks to the vaccine roll out and predictions of economic growth in 2021, CFOs in the UK are apparently more optimistic that they’ve been in years.
This recovery has been driving hiring demands, with our Job Flow Index showing strong growth in the number of jobs created and adverts posted in the first months of 2021.
And it looks like this growth is set to continue: Almost 30% of CFOs reported plans to add new products or services or expand into new markets this year.
This positive outlook of the economy is great for our industry as it will encourage businesses to hire and give us all some jobs to fill!
3. There are more passive candidates than you think
Candidates might be hesitant to move jobs right now, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t like to change roles. In fact, research suggests that 41% of UK employees plan to change job within the next 12 months!
More than half of those planning a future job move say their company didn’t adequately support them during the Covid crisis.
And the number of candidates looking to move is set to increase even further: Around 42% of employees have said they would look for a new job if their employer scraps remote working after the lockdown.
So catch up with your candidates now and find out which companies are likely to lose staff in the upcoming months – you could start filling your pipeline with a stream of hard-to-find candidates.
4. Candidate backouts are a real problem
In this job-short market, you’d think that candidates would be less likely to turn down job offers – but in practice, the opposite is true.
With fewer jobs on the market, candidates are applying to each and every job they see – even if they’re not that interested in the role. When these candidates get to offer stage and realise the job isn’t really right for them, they back out last minute.
If you’re struggling with backouts right now, you’re not alone: this blog will show you some ways to protect your pipeline from these risky candidates.
If you’re trying to stay up to date in this fast-changing recruitment market, our Job Flow Index report gives you the latest data from the recruitment market every month. Download it below.
