What will happen to recruitment in 2024?

Here comes the part where I get my crystal ball out!

Let’s reflect on 2023 first.

When I wrote a post at the end of 2022 about what were my predictions for 2023 the 1st point was that Economists were preparing for a Global recession, Inflation would continue to rise, and we would still be feeling the impact of Covid and the Ukraine war.?

Some of that has come to fruition – the rising inflation rates have helped fuel the cost-of-living crisis that many are facing, with the war in Ukraine continuing and now the awful events in Israel/Palestine.

?But let's reflect what 2023 meant for us personally:-

?? The year for us at Aspire Jobs has been very busy.? In fact it’s been our best year since I set the business up in January 2011.? Its been very, very hard work and often frustrating as candidates turn down job offers and interviews – sometimes only a few hours before they are due to start a new role.

?? We have seen record numbers of vacancies, placements and happy clients/candidates.

?? We have filled more Part time roles than we ever have before – this just shows how hard the market is these have often been filled directly by clients without the need for a recruitment agency

?? We have over 130 5-star Google reviews, which I am immensely proud of and have definitely helped us win new clients.

?? There has been no real let up in the shortage of available candidates, although admittedly in October and November we did start hearing more from candidates about redundancies.? Companies have still needed to be flexible and agile to recruit from a shrinking pool of people who all have different expectations of the workplace.

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? Looking forward to 2024 I personally think we will still be busy.? However, I think that recruitment will return to the levels of pre covid and not the extremes we have seen since then.? Things will settle more but companies will be looking to continue to build strategic partnerships with their agency and we need to be seen to be adding value to our client’s business and growth strategies.

?? Our invaluable insights into the local employment market, what’s hot and what’s not, salary expectations but also what candidates are looking for in terms of benefits, hours and hybrid working will be key to making sure our clients can recruit great teams.

? AI will become more prevalent in all industries, and Recruitment is no different.? Technology is evolving so quickly, and those companies that embrace it to enhance their offering will stand out from the others.? However, I personally believe that the human touch recruiters offer to clients and candidates cannot be replicated by a computer and will be more important than ever.

? The industry will still continue to be fast-paced with good people having the choice of which jobs to apply for, with multiple job offers still being the norm.

? We will continue to work with those clients who trust us and who want to give us the time and space to do our jobs to the best of our ability.? Those who engage with us on an exclusive basis for a set period of time will still continue to take priority over those clients who call us and have already tried 3 or 4 other agencies.?

? As of now, some Recruiters are considered order-takers. But, no more. In the coming time, recruiting will increasingly be recognised as a strategic role. Recruiting leaders and recruiters will be expected to bring a perspective, push back, and lead the way forward

? Remote interviews are here to stay – particularly for roles that are not geographically based in 1 location – Video interviewing has been amazing for this and has saved time, money and the environmental impact with fewer journeys being made can only be good for the planet.?

? The candidate experience will still be vital.? Candidate has really been king for the last 2 years and whilst I think that will slow down a little, I think that they will continue to only deal with agencies who treat them as humans, who keep communication flowing and whom really understand what the candidate is looking for.

?? Diversity, Equality and Inclusion will still be a hot topic in 2024 and there is so much more that business can do around this topic.?? There are many approaches, but some of the most common include a focus on inclusive language in job descriptions and setting quantitative goals for your workforce. For example, companies will often make a commitment to diversity and inclusion by setting percentages for representation of certain groups. And when it comes to job descriptions, the latest best practices indicate that it's best to limit the language to describing what skills and attributes are necessary to perform the state job responsibilities.

??? Social media recruitment will still be an important tool for recruiters particularly for some roles such as Warehouse, stores, retail, healthcare etc.?

??? Our expertise in candidate matching and saving clients time will be forefront of business minds.? Using an agency should free up their time to focus on running their business and doing their job.? If an agency doesn’t live up to this expectation, then what is the point of them paying us?

??? Employer branding will still be an important factor of the recruitment process for candidates.? Speed, the ease in which they can access information about a companies EDI, CSR etc will be vital.

??? Empathy will be more important to candidate in 2024.? Gone are the days when every company would tout their “family” environment. Instead, now employers tend to gravitate toward an employer which takes into account employee's needs while respecting their professionalism. Empathy is especially useful during stressful moments of the hiring process, such as the contract negotiation. But in general, if the recruiter has an empathic approach, it can make the difference when the candidate is making their final decision.

?? I think there will be a return to office working for many firms, particularly SME’s that we tend to deal with.? Building and fostering a team spirt cannot be overlooked, but also building on productivity will be key to growth of the UK economy.

??? Legislation changes will be key, and everyone from agencies to employers need to understand them.? The biggest being, the UK’s upcoming Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act in 2024 allowing employees to request changes to their work patterns twice a year from day one of employment. Despite expedited response times reduced from three months to two, employers can still deny requests based on eight permissible reasons.

?So that's my take on what I think. I am sure there are many points I have missed, so please do feel free to comment below and add them or add your thoughts!

I'm more than happy to chat to anyone looking to recruit and doesn't know where to start, or wants some help with salary benchmarking, writing compelling job ads and interviewing advice.

07974 429217 [email protected] hashtag#recruitment hashtag#recruiting

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