As we step in to 2022, it’s clear that candidates continue to hold most of the power when it comes to recruiting. The unemployment rate has remained low throughout the pandemic due to Government support such as the furlough scheme. This has led to more jobs being available than candidates.
Employees were also exposed to a new way of working throughout the pandemic that allowed them to work from home and on more of a flexible basis. In addition, when businesses were able to welcome their team back to the office, some people were less willing to give up the better work-life balance that home working offered.
The current competitive market has meant that employers have had to look at new incentives such as higher wages and flexible working in order to attract and retain high quality candidates.
As businesses look to bounce back from the pandemic, and with lots of staff and skill shortages, we have put together trends predicted for 2022 that may help you to retain and attract talent into your business.
Remote Working & Hiring:
In order to attract more talent, we encourage you to introduce more flexibility such as hybrid or home working if possible. It’s important to clearly state this when promoting your vacancies on job boards or social media.
Adopting a more remote hiring process can also help you stand out from your competitors. Your time is precious and so is that of your candidates. Getting time off work to attend multiple job interviews isn’t easy, so why not make this an easier process and better experience for your candidates and have a flexible approach to remote hiring? This will also help you to expand your talent pool as you may attract more people from more remote areas.
Glassdoor found that ‘’ 11.1 percent of UK employers hiring locally between January and October 2021 were competing against remote jobs, up more than eightfold from 1.4 percent in the same time period in 2019.’’
Increasing Salaries
Many employers are offering higher salaries in order to compete with other businesses. This has led to companies looking at their location-based pay policies to attract and retain local talent. In addition, the gap of wages in London and Edinburgh compared to more rural areas may start to close.
This may be a challenge for smaller businesses as local candidates may go to bigger companies as they are offering flexible working and a higher salary. Small businesses may struggle to compete with this. To overcome this, it’s important to promote the benefits of working for a smaller business that sets you apart from larger organisations. This may be employee benefit schemes, training, team building opportunities, and your company culture.
Diversity, Equality & Inclusion:
It’s not just hybrid working and higher salaries that candidates are looking for in a company. They also want to be part of a workplace that values the importance of diversity, equality, and Inclusion.
Many people had more time to reflect and become more aware of social issues during the pandemic. In addition, candidates are paying attention to company values to ensure they align with their own. This includes policies focusing on diversity, equality, and inclusion.
Companies with over 250 employees are legally required to complete a gender pay gap report. These businesses can submit information on why they have a gender pay gap and what they’re going to do to tackle this. Employers with less than 250 staff can volunteer to complete this report. Recognising the importance of this, many companies are leading the way by voluntarily completing similar reports on D, E & I to identify any issues and provide goals to tackle this.
Branding
We’ve all heard about branding, whether it’s something you focus a lot of your time and energy on or not. It’s the combination of the image you put out to the world, along with your values and beliefs, your product or service, and the way you interact with people.
These things all combine to create a feeling in people – good or bad – that gives them an impression of what your business is really like.
But when it comes to employer branding, you may be a little less sure. Many businesses simply don’t give their employer branding enough thought. And it’s really important. Especially in today’s job market.
You see, thanks to things like social media and job sites, as well as the rise in remote working post-pandemic, it’s even easier for candidates to find their ideal job roles. Thanks to technology, it isn’t just a local pool of candidates your business is fighting to attract, it can be national, or even global. In addition, focusing on improving your company brand will go a long way to gain and retain quality candidates.
We’ve created a guide that will help you improve your business brand. You can download your FREE guide here. Contact us on 01383 668 178 to talk to one of our HR Advisors. We hope these recruitment trends for 2022 helps you gain and retain talented candidates.