March 14, 2023
March 14, 2023
Photo by Silas Baisch on Unsplash
The 2022 recruiting scene was an employee-driven job market coming out of two years of a worldwide pandemic that indelibly changed the way we all work and do business. Talent shortages were at a ten-year high, employees were quitting in record numbers, and employers and recruiters had to change their recruiting strategies. High-volume recruitment, offering internal mobility, hiring back ex-employees, and hybrid work environments were just a few of the new ways employers had to pivot to build their workforces.
Predictions of an economic downturn have employers facing more challenges and uncertainties for recruiting and hiring in 2023. Continuing supply chain issues and political upheavals amid a rocky global economy affect the U.S. labor market even in a strong economy. But business experts like Forbes see issues like mass layoffs and hiring freezes as indicators that employers and job seekers alike will have new economy-related recruiting and job search challenges.
An economy with recession rumblings and a competitive labor market with employees and candidates who are worried about job security and cost of living means everyone’s uncertain in 2023. Forbes contributor Kara Dennison reports that employers are looking at new recruiting strategies to build and safeguard their workforces. Business leaders are implementing internal mobility, upskilling, and workweek flexibility with four-day workweek schedules.
Employers are using remote work, hybrid work schedules and work environments, and shortened work weeks to gain and retain employees. Business consultant Gartner calls these new recruiting tactics “quiet hiring”. They are using workforce flexibility by connecting with ex-employees and gig workers to support their workforces on an as-needed basis rather than big hiring pushes. This supports what Gartner reports workers want: Schedule stability, paid leave, flexibility in the kind of work they do and who they do it with, as well as the amount of work they complete.
Other new 2023 job market trends that Gartner reports include flexibility and career support for managers, pursuing nontraditional candidates, and extra workforce support for pandemic-related stresses. This support may be in the form of relaxed meeting schedules, adequate (or additional) paid time off, and caring for workers around high-demand work periods. Additionally, younger workers affected by two difficult pandemic years need support to address burnout, erosion of social skills from isolation, and career insecurity.
2023’s job market will see some new issues that weren’t around pre-COVID, according to CNBC’s
McKinsey & Company Chief People Officer Katy George talks about how employers are competing in the new talent market. She explains that the pandemic changed the working world irreversibly in many ways, including driving up employee expectations of work and employers. The new talent market is made up of people looking for more flexibility and meaning from work and employers. Different employee priorities have altered the worker-employer contract.
To reach and appeal to this new talent market, George says employers must make some challenging changes. Specific education and experience requirements are giving way to a focus on skills instead. Employers are providing more of the development and career opportunities that people want with self-directed learning and accessible learning records.
Real-time mentorship opportunities replace traditional educational credentials while developing the workforce in learning organizations. With digital tools, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence, employers can establish agile working methods that enable people to work together more collaboratively and productively with new continuously improving team practices. Traditional career paths, the corporate ladder, are giving way to a focus on skills development and mastery, replacing seniority and service anniversaries with recognition of achievements.
Employers can’t go back to traditional recruiting the way they did before the pandemic. Katy George describes the need to create better employee value propositions and make it more attractive for employees to say to compete in the new talent market.
The 2023 economy is affected and shaped by pandemic and post-pandemic conditions that are new and lingering. Pandemic impacts on supply chains and the war in Ukraine have put pressure on inflation across the globe, causing central banks to implement coordinated monetary policy changes. Tightening financial conditions across the globe to try to control inflation is driving a global recession.
The energy crisis in Europe, driven partly by the war in Ukraine, is expected to continue. China’s economic challenges slowing its growth due to a zero-COVID policy and oversupply of housing are weakening its ability to attract and retain top talent. The economic realities of an impending global recession with various ongoing sources mean uncertainty in talent acquisition and in the workplace alike.
Gartner HR senior director Rose McRae explains that an economic slowdown puts organizations in a difficult position, needing both hiring slowdowns and freezes and changes to their recruiting strategies. HR professionals are worried, not only about recruiting but about losing people. Johnson & Johnson CHRO Peter Fasolo says the best approach to 2023 recruiting worries is balance, understanding both internal and external talent markets and sources.
Employers in the 2023 economy need to focus on bringing in new talent with new strategies and investing in the current workforce in ways attractive to employees and job seekers. The new talent market, ushered in by pandemic conditions and burnout, is going to require businesses and employers to pivot once again to stay competitive for top talent.