The new year is here! Right now, it’s looking a lot like the old year. Hiring, especially in the tech industry, is surging. Unemployment is at a low point, and the Great Resignation is only picking up speed as skilled employees have their choice of employers and a robust stock market has encouraged many Baby Boomers to opt to retire now, leaving a gap in the workforce. As always, the market will adapt! Here are some trends we’re seeing for 2022.

The Retention Interview

Employers recognize it is far more cost effective to retain employees than to hire new talent in this tight labor market. As they continue to adapt to remote work and switch up their benefits to reflect what their employees want (goodbye, foosball tables in the office, hello, mental health days!) a great tool is the retention interview. Exit interviews have given employers data and insights on why employees leave – now they are using retention interviews to find out proactively how to keep employees. This is a great opportunity for hiring managers to find out how valued employees are feeling about work, and be able to take corrective action if they see they are at risk of losing talent. 

Location Agnostic Hiring

This trend continues. With the explosion of remote work, we’ve seen employers expand their talent search outside of their geographic area. Additionally, many employers put a “return to office” date on the calendar, only to scrap those plans as the latest coronavirus variant surged, accelerating the recruitment of out-of-area candidates. For many roles, it has become apparent that being in an office is not a requirement of the job. It’s also a cost savings for many employers as they shrink their office space footprint or close them altogether. Regardless, it’s a boon for those outside major tech hub cities as their options are endless.

Acquisition Growth

With the tight labor market, some large employers are finding it easier to buy smaller companies to acquire a chunk of talent rather than trying to hire. Many tech startups who are willing to sell are discovering that their biggest value proposition isn’t their product or services – it’s their talent. A small company with 30 developers on staff might be worth the price of an outright purchase. On the flip side, employees who liked working for smaller companies might not want to be absorbed by a large corporation and will look to leave soon after.

Streamlined Hiring Process

Everyone has talked about streamlined hiring for years – now we’re really seeing change. Candidates don’t want to upload resumes and then be asked to manually put in all the same information into outdated applicant tracking systems. Cover letter requirements are also less popular. Instead, things like hiring blitz days with instant interviews and fast decision making are some of the ways that savvy employers are capturing talent. Recruiters and hiring managers need to respect candidates’ time and make the process of hiring as easy as possible. Any roadblocks or bottlenecks are going to have an outsized impact in this labor market.

Pay Transparency

This is a hot button topic as employers are seeing employees sharing pay information much more freely. Platforms like Medium and Reddit are seeing a huge movement of people sharing (often anonymously) their employer’s name, their title and their salary. Employers who have had pay discrepancies should beware: the long time employee who finds out that the new hire in the same role is making much more is going to be headed for the door. Not to mention gender pay disparities will not go over well among those being underpaid. Candidates are asking for pay transparency up front when interviewing, and don’t want to have to wait until there is a firm offer to find out that their salary expectations will not be met. Employers should do an audit to make sure they are paying fair market rates for all their current employees and be prepared for the salary conversation sooner in the hiring process than has happened in the past.

We’d love to hear from you about what you think 2022 will bring. Drop us a line at info@talentreachnw.com to let us know what you think this year holds, or if you’re just interested in a new opportunity!