Top Stories & Industry Insights For Staffing Leaders This Week
Get an inside scoop on what's happening in the staffing and recruiting world with this roundup of the top news stories, industry trends, and blog posts from around the web from this week.
New economic data showed showed hiring in the US labor market continues to slow, but layoffs remain low. Data from ADP Wednesday morning showed 122,000 private payrolls were added in December, down from the 146,000 additions seen in November. Meanwhile, the latest reading of initial jobless claims from the Department of Labor showed 201,000 claims for unemployment benefits were filed in the week ending Jan. 4, a drop of 10,000 from the previous week and below the 215,000 expected by economists.
For many the integration of AI has proven to not be the ‘quick fix’ many were hoping for. Key elements of the hiring process, such as identifying talent gaps, and recognising potential ‘beyond the resume’ are still out of scope for many of the tools presently available. ?A number of the talent specialists surveyed for the research noted that relying too heavily on AI in recruitment made the process impersonal, and caused them to miss out on high quality candidates.
Across millions of job postings, employers are seeking a wide range of skills in 2025, including specific technical skills around generative AI and soft skills that help employees adapt to change, according to a Jan. 6 report from Aura Intelligence, a workforce analytics platform. Soft skills, in particular, remain in high demand, with communication skills being the top skill requested across nearly 2 million job postings in December 2024. Still, a balance of hard skills and soft skills on applicant resumes will most likely appeal to hiring managers and applicant tracking systems this year, the report found.
“The strong jobs growth we saw today, along with the drop in the unemployment rate, affirm that the job market is cooling gradually rather than slowing more dramatically,” Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor’s senior economist, told HR Brew. Employers added 256,000 jobs in December, beating out economists’ expectations. Overall, payroll employment rose by 2.2 million in 2024, around 800,000 less than the 3 million added in 2023. Unemployment fell to 4.1%, from 4.2% in November.
Although 51% of job seekers are optimistic about their chances of getting a job over the next six months, according to a recent Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey, 49% are expecting challenges. ?Job search difficulties include finding jobs that match qualifications (51%) and pay enough to cover basic expenses (44%). In addition, four in 10 job seekers struggle to stand out in a competitive market, especially Millennials and Gen Xers. Job seekers also worry about lacking the necessary skills (40%) and being underqualified (23%). And 34% believe employers only appear to be hiring; they’re actually just collecting resumes to review.
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White-collar workers in their forties and fifties are more likely to experience career crises than lower-skilled workers in the same age group, according to recent research. Professor Ying Zhou, lead author of the study and director of the Future of Work Research Centre at the University of Surrey, found that highly skilled workers, such as managers or professionals including lawyers and accountants, had a higher probability of experiencing a “mid-career crisis” or a period of low job satisfaction according to the study.
For Arnish, this process has been crucial to gaining a deep understanding of AI. And, she highlights that from her experience, that employees gain the best insights through hands-on experience – experimenting, exploring, and engaging with AI tools and resources. “I really do feel that it is so important that HR teams are focused on embedding and getting comfortable with AI themselves,” she begins. “But there’s a huge opportunity here to allow AI to lift us, to do our jobs so much better, because we’ve been able to automate processes and take things off the table. It gives us a space to be more creative and be more impactful for the business.”
The Employment Rights Bill is currently in the committee stage, with proposed changes including unfair dismissal, an end to fire and rehire, zero-hour contracts, and flexible working. Rather than reacting to modifications as they happen, employers should take a proactive approach, says employment specialist Paula Squire from national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP. “Active planning will set businesses up for success and ensure they remain compliant and competitive in an ever-shifting landscape,” said Paula, Partner, in the firm’s employment team.
The report, however, noted that the relative demand for the top three skills has softened. "Employers listing needs for communication skills, for instance, dropped by over 20% over the quarter, while management and customer service followed a similar trend," it read. On the other hand, specialised skills such as innovation and project management reported growth. Marketing also came up as the most in-demand specialised skill for employers.
This week's industry insights are brought to you by the team at the KTRIAN. Weekly digest for staffing leaders to gain a better understanding of the economic trends influencing their business, as well as the human capital issues affecting staffing and recruiting to make more informed decisions.
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KTRIAN Solutions is an offshore recruitment process outsourcing solutions provider for staffing firms based in the U.S. and EU region offering a spectrum of services - full life cycle recruitment, sourcing and screening, MSP/VMS support, and executive search.