HIGHS & LOWS
Howard Longstaff
FULL-STACK PEOPLE CONSULTANT. solving problems for organisations & individuals. 30 years as a Head-hunter & Executive Search Consultant with 20 years Coaching /Mentoring, a Podcast Hosts, at “ALL ABOUT START-UP’S”.
Everything has highs and lows.
In 2023, layoffs had a huge impact on the talent and recruiting market as well as human resources professionals as companies in various sectors conducted widespread workforce reductions and enacted hiring freezes.? Many of the heads they did hire they did themselves advertising on job boards and managed the process as best they could.? Unfortunately, it resulted in a high level of mis and bad hires and cost the businesses more than if they had used recruiters or search firms.
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Tech organizations worldwide saw headcount reduced by 10% to 20%, companies downsized 50% of inhouse tech recruiters due largely to economic environment marred by high inflation, steep interest rates and subsequent corporate belt-tightening.
Highs and lows
Everything could change in 2024, a December survey by recruiting firm Robert Half revealed that 57% of hiring managers plan to add new permanent positions in the first half of 2024.
With 86% of talent practitioners expressing positivity about what the future of talent acquisition holds, according to research by Jobvite.
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However, the investment outlook for 2024 shows that more than half of the budget increase will be allocated toward AI-powered recruiting tools, followed by DEI initiatives, candidate relationship management, applicant tracking systems, career sites, sourcing technologies, job boards and offers.
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Companies are looking for a short cut in the hiring process, but all fail to see that recruiters, search firms and headhunters provide the human touch and traditionally have access to the people, especially those dormant candidates.
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I spoke with a recruiter & founder of a Californian Search Firm last night and they are still experiencing low requirements from clients in Q1 but hoping that this will improve towards the end of the quarter and into Q2. But think the push will come in H2 this year as companies gear up for Q4 and 2025.
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Its always interesting to see how quickly things can change and recruiters, search firms are real barometers on the market, seeing the gauge move up fast and come way down when things are slow. Some companies are still laying people off this quarter, lets hope that is the last of the redundancy rounds for the next few years.