With the New Year just around the corner, it’s time not to look back at what was, but forward to what will be. Maybe you’ll start going to the gym instead of counting your stairs as exercise. Maybe you’ll finally read a book, beginning to end, in that order! Or maybe, just maybe, you’ll really try to better yourself by committing to reading this blog on a daily basis.
Stepping away from resolutions for just one moment, it’s worth noting that 2015 will bring about many changes in the recruiting industry as well. Some may be expected, while others might catch you off guard. Regardless, below you will find the five trends to expect in recruiting over the next year.
1) Companies Will Continue to Spend Buckets of Money as the Skills Gap Widens
The wealth gap gets a lot of attention in newspapers and television, but the gap that does not nearly get enough press is the skills gap. With millions of jobs opening up each year, companies are desperate to find the most qualified candidates on the market. The problem is, however, that there is a major gap between what skills are required and what skills applicants actually possess. In fact, The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that there were 4.7 million job openings in June, and over 50% of employers say they cannot find qualified candidates. Colleges must work to align their curriculums with what is expected in the workplace, or else the skills gap will continue to widen, and companies will keep pumping money into their recruting budgets.
2) Companies Will Ramp Up Their Mobile Hiring
What better avenue is there to reach millennials than on their phones, considering they already have their faces buried in them? To be honest, mobile recruiting seems to be lagging behind when compared with many of the other recent advances in recruiting. Well in 2015, that trend will change. We’ve said it before, but 83% of jobseekers use their mobile devices to search for job openings, yet only 20% of Fortune 500 companies have mobile-friendly career sites. Additionally, 45% of active candidates have applied to jobs using their phones. As more people who were raised before everything was available with the tap of a thumb begin to enter the job market, more and more applications will be submitted via mobile device. Savvy companies will recognize this, and devote some of their focus to mobile recruiting.
3) Innovative HR Technologies Will Change Recruiting Dramatically
There are many online services and platforms that offer unique solutions to companies looking to fix their recruiting. Some work very well, while others…not so much. Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that HR technology is big, big business. With the global staffing market sitting at $416 billion, and with so much rogue spending in the system, the online recruiting world is poised to look very different in just one year as companies looking to disrupt the industry emerge. One trend that will certainly expand is the idea of crowdsourced recruiting, whereby companies such as RecruitiFi leverage the power of vast networks of expert agents in order to provide the very best candidates to their clients.
4) Succession Planning Will Impact Recruiting
17% of baby boomers report that they are retired, a figure that is up from 10% in 2010. As more of this generation begins to leave the workforce, succession planning will rise in importance. Many boomers hold important positions in their respective companies, and their departures will significantly affect their organizations, especially when the aforementioned skills gap is taken into account. Businesses will raise their recruiting budgets as younger employees are promoted to take the higher positions and their desks are left empty for long periods of time.
5) Companies in the US Will Further Prioritize Passive Candidates
75% of working professionals in the United States identify themselves as passive candidates, and recruiters are keenly aware of that statistic. The USA is actually 2nd in the world behind China in the extent to which talent acquisition leaders make focusing on reaching out to passive candidates a priority, at 72%. This trend will continue in 2015, for as long as major organizations remain more attracted to passive candidates, recruiters will pursue them.