By Ty West – Editor-in-Chief, The Playbook,
Jun 22, 2022
https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2022/06/22/job-market-cooling-off-hiring
Leslie Loveless, CEO of executive search firm Slone Partners, recently heard from a CEO who said things seemed to be getting a bit easier in the talent market.
Loveless responded that "easier" is a relative term when it comes to hiring in 2022.
“In 2021, it was brutally hard. The first quarter of 2022 was brutally hard. Maybe now, it’s just very hard,” Loveless said.
There is some evidence that the pace of hiring is leveling off in some corners of the economy. Layoffs are inching up, with some large high-profile cuts in the startup and tech spaces. Inflation and stock market turbulence also are giving some business owners pause about expansion plans — developments economists say could lead to a pullback on hiring efforts.
But executives on the front lines of the battle for talent say employers shouldn't expect much short-term relief on the hiring front. In fact, some recruiters say they remain as busy as they’ve ever been even as recession fears mount.
Julie Davis, senior director at Morgan Hunter Cos., said her firm recently recorded its biggest month of placements in company history.
“It’s across the board and all of our disciplines,” Davis said. “What we’ve seen in the last year has been crazy.”
Similarly, Loveless said the market remains unlike anything she's ever seen. It's an environment that has everyone on edge.
“We’re working with companies that are trying to get people and having to sit with that fear of, ‘What’s going to happen when our top candidate that our client loves goes to resign, and their company panics and freaks out because they are leaving — what are they going to do to try to keep the person?'” Loveless said. “It really does sit in your stomach like a rock until you feel like you have safely moved on it from it.”
Recruiters have been warning companies that even when the economy slows, that doesn’t mean employers will be able to return to their pre-pandemic hiring strategies. That’s partially due to demographics that will leave the workforce millions of employees shy of its pre-pandemic peak as the large baby boomer generation is replaced by the much smaller Generation Z.
Beyond the raw numbers, the nature of hiring also has changed.
“There is not an active candidate market for the types of roles that people are trying to hire for,” said Jody Robie, senior vice president and shareholder for Talent Works International. “I used to be able to put up a job on Indeed or LinkedIn, and my team would respond to the 40 or 50 resumes and hire somebody.”
Those types of interactions are happening on a limited basis these days, she said.
“In the past, hiring managers and CEOs could take on recruiting as sort of a side gig,” Robie said. “[Now], if you need to wait two weeks because someone is traveling, you lose that candidate in many cases. Some other organization has reached out to them and offered them maybe more money, a better fit or a quicker decision.”
It’s a situation that’s causing burnout for hiring managers and recruiters. Robie encourages those feeling hiring stress to avoid getting frustrated.
“If you feel like it’s taking longer and it’s harder, it’s not just you. It is taking longer and it is harder,” Robie said.
Robie said companies that are struggling with hiring should devote some time to examine their processes and determine what could improve. That may mean rethinking some longtime protocols or bringing in a third-party group to lead recruitment efforts.
Employers also need to reassess what they are offering candidates — and not just in terms of money. Recruiters say remote work continues to be an important differentiator.
“If a company is still requiring their employees to come in five days a week, they’re seeing some bleeding,” Davis said. “We’ll post a position, and if it's 100% remote, we get inundated with responses. If it’s a position that’s 100% onsite, it’s very minimal. Candidates want that flexibility.”
In addition to grappling with hybrid office policies, Davis said another trend to watch is one around benefits and perks.
As we’ve noted, several white-collar professional service firms are stepping up their offerings. Recruiters say they are not alone.
Davis said more companies are taking a closer look at their benefits packages — everything from health-care coverage and paid-time office to sign-on bonuses and small perks like food in the office.
“Companies are trying to do anything and everything to keep their employees happy,” Davis said.