Candidates are in a much better position to negotiate remuneration than before, are you ready?

The growth outlook for the UK has deteriorated.

The challenges are spread across the economy, with both consumers and businesses under pressure. Business investment continues to underperform expectations and subdued growth prospects; rising costs and increasing debt, particularly among small and medium-sized companies, mean a turnaround looks unlikely in the short term.

Front of mind for the UK's new prime minister will be the impact of geopolitical changes and the rising cost of living on the outlook for gross domestic product (GDP) growth, inflation, and the shape of economic recession.

Against this backdrop, the government must put in place stable and supportive policies that help businesses pull the UK out of this economic quagmire. Firms must be given the confidence to invest; only then can they drive the growth the economy so desperately needs.

Brands have realised those businesses that invested in marketing during the pandemic have largely come out on top. This has prompted a lot of organisations to now prioritise marketing after resolving the operational, technological and structural challenges the pandemic forced them to address.

Due to the issues outlined above, skills shortages have become extensive. Productivity is one of the largest areas of concern, with 40% of employers reporting that this is the area that has been impacted the most, followed by creativity at 36% and innovation at 35%.

The job market is much more competitive, but that’s employers competing for top talent and not just candidates competing for opportunities.

Candidates are in a much better position to negotiate remuneration than before.

Although responding to skills shortages with salary increases might seem like a logical solution, our research shows that this is not the only winning factor for potential new recruits.

Professionals are increasingly looking to work for organisations that prioritise social responsibility, with volunteer days and supporting good causes being prime factors of consideration when individuals are looking to join new workplaces. In fact, 92% of surveyed employees say a company’s purpose is important when seeking a new role.

Other factors to consider are work-life balance, which has improved for many workers in the industry compared with pre-pandemic life: 38% now say it is the most important factor when considering a new role (excluding salary). In addition to this, employees are reporting that they’d appreciate greater support from their workplaces, with 44% saying they would prefer more focused support on mental health, flexible working at 77%, work-from-home at 57%, well-being at 42% and training at 40%.

The reason behind the lack of skills the sector is experiencing boils down to multiple factors, with the first being slow movement in the jobseeker market. 58% of surveyed employees plan to change jobs in the coming 12 months, a slight decrease on last year, that also coincides with increased hiring plans from employers: 81% plan to recruit in the year ahead in comparison to 67% last year.

Beagle suggests working with your talent partners to identify talent pools with the most tightly clustered success factors ahead of when you might need them for business-critical areas. Explore how best to transition exemplar talent from outside your industry to those areas of high staff demand within your business; a good search firm will help. Leave these conversations too late, and you’ll be left paying a higher premium for transitory ‘market-mapping’ agencies and talent.

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