As different industries worldwide are still recovering from the COVID pandemic, recruiters are searching for creative ways to fill in new job openings — because, let’s be honest, the business world is clearly on the mend. So, which workforce market and recruiting trends will dominate in 2023? While the exact answer to that will most certainly depend on the particular industry, there are certain tendencies that should be quite common in most business segments. Here are the top ten trends that have been developing steadily for some time and will continue to influence the recruiting processes in 2023.
1 Remote work trend will persist
During the pandemic, the forced switch towards remote work had proven surprisingly effective, and this tendency should continue in 2023. Recruiters should expect that in most areas, where at least part-time remote work makes sense, employees will most certainly prefer more flexible working hours, preferably outside the office. This, in turn, creates the need for result-oriented professionals who can manage their own time without much supervision. You can see that reflected in their CV writing quality. While in theory, this trend will allow some budget cuts on paying additional office staff, in practice, searching for qualified experts who can work independently will usually mean a longer and more creative hiring funnel for the recruiters.
2 As will the need for engaging passive candidates
The tendency toward more independent, remote work hours will only increase recruiters’ need to engage passive candidates. People not actively hunting for a job have always been considered the ‘golden geese’ of recruiting, and today’s workforce market makes such prospects even more valuable. Traditionally, LinkedIn will remain the top professional platform for finding such candidates, but recruiters should be well-advised to contact prospects outside this network which is getting ever more crowded. Using an email finder for LinkedIn to contact passive candidates directly becomes a standard practice because it results in higher response rates and increases the recruiter’s chances of attracting a valuable asset.
3 Job seekers are expected to have more control
Despite recent market uncertainty, people have become more selective about the job offers they receive. In a recent Candidate Experience Report survey, 49% of respondents claimed to have rejected a job offer due to poor experience. The poor experience implied not only unacceptable employment conditions but rather a poorly-managed recruiting process. In a way, this makes perfect sense because first interviews with potential candidates tell job seekers a lot about how processes are managed within a company. And, it looks like in 2023, almost half of the job seekers would rather continue with their search than accept poorly-fitted offers.
4 But filling managerial openings will rely on internal up-skilling
At the same time, more and more companies are investing in educating their existing employees rather than hiring new talent. This trend is particularly true for managerial positions, where it makes more sense to educate people who already understand your company specifics than to hire new personnel and train them from scratch. Additionally, implementing ability tests during the up-skilling process can help identify areas where employees may need further development. This approach not only enhances their skill sets but also ensures that employees are well-prepared to take on new responsibilities. Besides, corporate investment in up-skilling their existing employees (webinars, classes, etc.) clearly shows business owners’ commitment to their asset pool, which builds trust and results in lower employee turnover.
5 Weekly business hours will keep dwindling
The forty-hour work week is not yet a thing of the past, but the weekly work hours are certainly shifting. While some companies switch to a four-day business week while insisting on clocking the same 40 hours, many others abandon this practice as counter-productive. In any case, the main workplace tendency in 2023 should not be the number of hours clocked but rather the results. And successful experiments have already proven that people can achieve more while working less.
6 Diversity and inclusion in the workplace are a must
Diversity and all-inclusiveness are other workplace trends that have been around for a while and are not going away any time soon. More and more job seekers decline employment opportunities if they do not see the environment as diverse and inclusive. Besides, a recent study from World Bank has proven that diversifying a workforce can increase company profits by 33%. While business revenue is not the recruiters’ direct responsibility, hiring the right people who can take the company to a new level is, and diversity should play a key role in that.
7 Salary transparency is growing more common
Another persistent trend that is becoming ever more obvious is salary transparency, and major corporations worldwide already practice a non-secretive approach towards their employee salary ranges. In a way, this tendency is a logical continuation of an inclusive approach to assembling diversified teams. While no one can force business owners to make their accounting public, a more transparent approach to employee compensation logic helps build more trust within teams, which generally makes people more loyal and productive.
8 Project-based hiring is nothing to shy away from
With a tendency towards remote, more independent work, the tendency towards hiring freelancers is also increasing. The contracts may vary from short- to long-term and, in some professional areas, may even imply outsourcing chunks of projects to remote teams. The major benefit of such a project-based tendency is budget, of course. But for recruiters, this usually means spending more time finding valuable professionals. The best piece of advice to save time and effort here would be to consider project specifics and do the X-Ray search of available freelancers. Alternatively, recruiters could consider their future employment needs in advance and start building a database of prospects they can reach out to whenever necessary.
9 Streamlined hiring process is key to engaging the Gen-Z workforce
Gen-Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is steadily infiltrating today’s workforce, particularly when internships are concerned. Recruiters should be aware of the generation’s specifics, which revolve around the above-mentioned diversity, inclusiveness, and transparency. While roughly half of the job seekers have been proven to decline offers because of poor recruiting and interviewing processes, the percentage of rejections will be even higher in case of Gen-Z candidates. Every step of the way, from the initial job offer to subsequent interviews, should be as transparent and to the point as possible. And this leads us to the last point on our list of 2023 recruiting trends.
10 Technology can still help but only to a certain degree
To ensure a transparent and to-the-point approach while screening and interviewing prospects, technology and automation alone will not be enough. Even though recruiters should still rely on professional software for finding prospects, making first contact with generic automated messages will be counter-productive. Recruiters will be expected to dedicate more effort to studying their prospects’ persona before reaching out with any job offers because Gen-Z, in particular, can spot the difference between robotic and human messages in fractions of a second. One tech trend gaining speed is virtual skills-based testing, with online employment test proctoring functionality that discourages cheating, minimizes bias, and ensures integrity during candidate selection and hiring.
Wrapping it all up, the main recruiting trend in 2023 will be a personalized approach to candidate screening and streamlining processes — a trend that has been obvious for some time, and that will likely persist in the years to come. Of course, there are a few other tendencies to be aware of, such as an emphasis on employee up-skilling and more independence in routine workflows. On the whole, though, recruiters will still need to invest time into building relations with passive candidates and approaching each potential asset with personalized attention.
