Weekly digest

The 10 Must-Read Articles for Recruiters This Week

Top stories of the week for recruiters

If your company is a fun place to work and employees take pride in getting a lot done quickly, it may be tempting to write a job description that describes the workplace as “fast-paced.” Or if everyone gets along really well, a job post may say that workers are “like a family.”

But as a recent article from The Wall Street Journal points out, these are loaded terms that may actually discourage candidates from applying to your open roles. “As workers grow more vocal about finding fulfilling jobs that they can mostly perform from 9 to 5,” writes the WSJ, “many job seekers are scrutinizing job postings for commonly used phrases they view as red flags for potential overwork.”

Many candidates may interpret a “fast-paced environment” as a recipe for burnout and “one big happy family” as code for dysfunctional workplace relationships. Other phrases that may give candidates pause include “willing to wear many hats,” “applicants should be humble,” and “looking for self-starters.”

If you’re in the process of revamping your job descriptions, be sure to check out the WSJ piece at the top of our list below for more phrases that you may want to avoid. And further down our list of must-read articles for talent professionals, you can also learn which generation may be bearing the brunt of recent layoffs; why one well-known clothing and apparel company is dedicating all of its profits to the fight against climate change; and why family businesses may have an advantage in the current talent market.

Here are the must-read articles from this week:

1. ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’ and More Phrases That Can Scare Away Job Applicants (The Wall Street Journal)

2. Millennials Won the Great Resignation. Now They’re Losing the Big Firing (Business Insider)

3. Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company (The New York Times)

4. The Healthcare Industry Has a Talent Crisis: We Found the Cure (Josh Bersin)

5. Why We Can’t Quit Talking About Quiet Quitting (LinkedIn Talent Blog)

6. Employers Are Rescinding Job Offers Again — How to Do So, If You Must (SHRM)

7. Family Businesses Have a Talent-Acquisition Advantage (Harvard Business Review)

8. Canada's Real Problem Is Not Job Losses, It’s the Rush to Retire (Reuters)

9. How Can I Increase Representation at My Workplace? (LinkedIn)

10. Who Are America’s Missing Workers? (The Seattle Times)

This week’s must-listen podcast:

Nurturing the Dynamic Between Chief People Officer and Founder-CEO With Lynee Luque, CPO at NerdWallet (Redefining HR)

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