“In my 25-plus years within the recruitment industry, I can honestly say that I’ve never witnessed such a hot, candidate-driven market,” says Nick Kirk, UK managing director at recruiter Michael Page, saying that internal data from the recruitment company shows applications are down by a quarter on average for each role.
One solution is to simply give people what they want. Kevin Parker, CEO of recruitment tech company HireVue, argues there isn’t a shortage of candidates, but job seekers are demanding better from new roles. “Candidates are resuming the job searches they put on hold at the start of Covid, they’re applying for roles outside of where they live, they’re expecting higher wages and a better work-life balance,” he says.
To attract the best candidates, employers need to offer flexibility and genuinely useful benefits. “The shift to hybrid and flexible working has made it difficult to attract talent simply by having a ping-pong table or a drinks fridge in the office,” says Kirk. “The reality is that flexibility isn’t just a ’nice to have’ anymore, but some employers are still trying to dictate what it looks like. In a candidate-driven market, that will inevitably put them at a disadvantage.
To change that, companies need to audit their existing staff skill sets, understand what gaps they have now and may face in the future, and have a plan for how to find those people, says Claire McCartney, senior policy adviser for resourcing and inclusion at CIPD. “They need to collect more data on their current and future workforce needs and better evaluate their recruitment activities to see what works and what doesn’t,” she explains.
Chia-Jung Tsay, assistant professor at the UCL School of Management, agrees, adding that supporting existing staff can help with retention—thereby avoiding the need to recruit a new employee in the first place. “Although companies may decide to hire externally, this may not always be easy and external hires sometimes have difficulty maintaining their performance with a new employer,” Tsay says.