2023 Labor Market Trends Recruiters Must Watch Out for

The last two years have seen the recruitment battlefield become more intense. Recruiters have to adapt their strategies and hiring practices to meet a pandemic-influenced labor market. From the unprecedented surge in virtual recruiting to labor shortages, candidates’ commitment to DE&I, and many more. The Talent acquisition landscape shows no sign of returning to what it was before the pandemic.

2020 wall all about covid-19. In 2021, professionals are accustomed to the dramatic shift in the job market. And what did 2022 look like? Here are 6 labor market trends recruiters should be abreast of in 2023.

  1. Candidates’ Market Is The New Normal

The greatest and the most notable change the business world has seen since the pandemic is the shift to a candidate-driven market.

As the business world gradually bounces back, there’s a surge in vacant positions and a short supply of talent. Candidates leverage that power to select employers that best meet their requirements, values, and needs.

On the other hand, employers are battling it out to attract top talents. Candidates are more than ever aware of their market value. Businesses now have to pay significantly more than they do in the past to retain or attract top talents.

Workers now expect much from organizations. According to the 2021 Recruiting Nations Report, 59% of hiring professionals report an increase in their organization turnover since the pandemic. In fact, some employees are ready to vacate their current roles in organizations to look for juicier offers like better benefits, higher salaries, and more commitment to DE&I.

  1. Remote Work Has Come to Stay

After the pandemic, it is evident that remote work is here to stay. Despite being a secret tool the big guns in every industry use to acquire talents globally, 12 months on, the whole story has changed. Remote work gives recruiters an expansive selection of talent alternatives without geographic restrictions.

Even at that, the competition for top talents -remote or not introduces a new puzzle for employers to solve- the cost puzzle. As sweet as remote hiring sounds, employers with big offers are those making away with the best talents in the market.

There are also implications for employers that fail to look the remote way. Local workers, more than ever, are now considering the flexibility of remote work.

According to research from Glassdoor, “20.4 percent of employers hiring locally in October 2021 are competing against remote jobs, up almost double from 10.3 percent in October 2019”.

While recruiters found it tough to attract the best candidates in 2022, 2023 promises to be tighter. By then, local employers will be in a more serious battle with organizations that offer remote opportunities to local workers.

  1. Collaborative Recruitment Is a Must

The traditional recruitment process in which the HRs have it all to do is gradually becoming history. It’s moving in a more collaborative direction. Tech giants like Apple, Google, and Netflix are already using it.

Collaborative recruiting is a  hiring process whereby the HR professionals, recruiters, and other employees of the company work together in the recruitment process.

The labor market is poised to witness even more of that in 2023. HR managers will have to work hand-in-glove with recruitment agencies to attract top talent to their company.

In a tech-driven world, IT companies benefit the most from collaborative recruitment. For example, it recruitment agencies Auckland can collaborate with a local company in Germany looking to hire for a remote position. This is not the best time for talent hunters to do it solo. The reality will dawn clear in 2023.

  1. Proactive Recruiting On The Rise

Due to the hot job market, recruiters are also shifting to proactive recruiting. Proactive recruiting is a strategy used by recruiters to engage and track candidates in their network. It involves the engagement and nurturing of prospective candidates before a specific position is available.

Forging a relationship with candidates makes it easier to draw placements. It is also a great way to win the fierce competition.

A proactive recruiter searches, segments, and nurtures candidates for future recruitment needs. When a specific role is open, recruiters can fall back to this list to pick the qualified candidates.

As we head into 2023 amidst talent shortage and hot recruitment war, proactive recruitment will be a game-changing strategy for its players.

  1. Social Recruiting Lives On

Using social media for recruitment was an almost-necessary trend in 2021. Up to 89% of surveyed companies report having hired candidates through LinkedIn. (Capterra). While social media has been an effective tool for hiring in the past years, 2023 will see social media recruitment improves.

Employers use social media to search, attract and acquire talent. The abundance of job advertisements on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is gallant evidence for that.

Job seekers are active on social media and waiting for employers. Hiring professionals not playing the social media game will miss out on many talents. If you aren’t improving your social media recruitment strategy, you need to know your competitors are doing it.

  1. Employer Branding Stays

The future is the candidates market. They are getting sensitive to who and where they work. Employer branding will have a significant impact on recruitment in 2023. Candidates are ready to dig to the root of company reputation before applying. They are interested in knowing the value, culture, and mission of a company. If they find it befitting, that’s when they consider sending in applications.

Businesses with good reputations and branding will attract more qualified candidates. Not only that, this will reduce the associated recruiting cost and minimize employee turnover.

Stats:

  1. 75% of candidates will research a company’s reputation before applying for the job. (LinkedIn).
  2. 62% of job seekers have reportedly used social media to evaluate employers. (CareerArc).

Conclusion

Looking at these trends gives an insight into what 2023 will look like in the labor market. Recruiters will have to gear up for what looks like a rollercoaster year ahead.

Finally, if there’s any advice out there, the best for recruiters is to add agility to their recruiting toolkits. It promises to be the distinguishing factor for successful recruiting in 2023.