Incentives Abound as Companies Scramble for Staff

Things are looking up, everyone. A recent survey found that over half of senior managers in the U.S. plan on adding new (permanent) positions in the back half of 2021.

An additional 48% are still planning on filling empty roles or bringing back furloughed employees – HAPPY DANCE!

The three areas looking at the most hires?

1.) Admin support – 58%

2.) Technology – 56%

3.) Marketing – 54%

Along with all of this happy news comes some obstacles. Sorry folks, it can’t be all wine and roses (though, we ask, why not? sigh.) The biggest recruiting challenges are as follows:

1.) finding those elusive candidates with the necessary skills

2.) getting the hire in the door quickly (gotta get the best talent before someone else does!)

3.) hiring candidates who are a match for the company culture

It’s All About the Benjamins…Not Always

So what are some incentives that organizations are using to lure candidates through the door?

According to one study:

• almost half (48%) of companies are leveraging signing bonuses
• additional paid time off is what 43% are including
• 40% are offering better job titles

Of course for some, a full wallet does the talking. In a separate survey, companies stated they were planning larger raises in 2022 to help increase the retention factor. Salary increases of 3% (for executives, management and professional employees) are planned for 2022 which is an increase over the average of 2.7% this year. Manual labor employees can expect a 2.8% increase (higher than 2.5% average for this year).  These increases are seen as a way to incentivize employees to stay put amidst a surge in labor demand and supply shortage.

Contingent Workers Are on the Rise

Even with these perks for employees, the percentage of freelancers keeps increasing and shows no sign of stopping. Per a report from Ceridian, 62% of global executives forecast that freelancers will “substantially replace full-time employees within the next five years”…