The 5 Biggest US Recruitment Market Trends You Should Know

With ‘the great resignation’ and candidates’ ever-changing expectations, it’s fair to say that US recruitment has experienced quite the shakeup lately. Here, we talk through the five biggest market trends dominating the sector right now.

1.LinkedIn vs job boards

LinkedIn is certainly one of the key market trends. We get good traction with passive candidates, though this can be a slow burn. Job boards like Indeed are popular, as they allow access to resumes, so we tend to contact people from there, or on LinkedIn.

There are plenty of candidates due to the great resignation, but sourcing top-caliber talent is very difficult. To find the most exceptional, we need to headhunt. It’s around 80% of our workload, with the rest being proactive ads.

2.Video interviewing

Our US clients are very impressed by our all-encompassing video interviewing solution – BroadCAST. This includes candidate testing and profiling, and our consultants conduct first-stage interviews on behalf of our clients. As a result, businesses can find a better standard of candidate, and it saves them so much time. Decision makers are sent a single link to the talent dashboard, then everyone can review all the shortlisted candidates wherever they are.

Usually, leadership teams require four to six stages before they choose who to hire. But with our video interviewing solution, they’re generally happy to make an offer to the successful candidate after two in-person interviews. We'd say the process has been reduced because they’re able to see the candidates’ personalities from the off.

3.Flexible working

We recruit for high-level roles, so the great resignation hasn’t been as much of an issue compared to lower-level hires. That being said, the businesses themselves have been affected, and it’s caused issues when sourcing lower-level workers to replace them. To tackle this, our advice is to offer flexible and remote working where possible.

During lockdown, people discovered the benefits of home working, and they’ve proven they can be just as productive. Yet many businesses are only just realizing the need to continue offering some sort of remote working where possible. They were slow off the mark, which was an initial trigger for the great resignation. We strongly believe that if you don’t provide this flexibility, you’ll lose out on the best talent 100%.

4.Candidates’ changing expectations

It’s key to note the changing priorities when it comes to candidate wants, needs and expectations. Compensation isn’t always top of the agenda for them anymore; this generally comes third or fourth. Now, it’s about flexibility, remote working, and extra vacation days. As the standard annual leave is 10–12 days, or up to 18–20 days for those at a higher level, people want more options.

Something we’ve discovered is that once candidates have found out if the salary and flexibility suit them, they then ask about diversity and inclusion (D&I), which is a separate trend in itself.

5.Diversity and inclusion

What’s particularly interesting about the US is that people treat traveling between states like they would getting a bus. Candidates will happily jump on a 90-minute flight to a different state for an interview on a Saturday. Relocating to another area for a role is a lot more common than it is in the UK and Europe. However, it must be a great opportunity and company, which is why applicants need to know the organization’s stance on D&I.

Due to candidates’ increased interest on this subject, businesses need to work with an external recruitment partner who takes it seriously. Going forward, we expect D&I will continue to rise in importance for candidates and clients alike.

Leverage market trends with Cast USA

At Cast USA, we keep on top of the latest market trends to ensure you can secure the very best talent. It’s what we’ve been doing for all our clients since 2005, and now, we’d love to support you.

Talk to us today to find out more about our Recruitment Solutions and how they can help your business.