UK 
United States
What goes up must come down is a common idiom that dates back to the 1800s and comes from the physical properties of gravity.
It’s also applicable to this month’s insight that will look at how the war for talent might be turning amidst the current economic pressures. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we saw a swell of offering higher wages to attract and retain the best people. Is hiring cooling down after the sustained period of rapid recovery post-pandemic?
Businesses are making changes
With one foot in a recession and businesses affected by inflation and rising costs, many are taking action to cut costs and mitigate risks. Companies are making cuts to the workforce to reduce costs. Are the tech job cuts a warning to the broader economy? In recent weeks, Google Parent firm Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Spotify have announced the cutting of roles, a hiring freeze, or employing other tactics to reduce staff and costs. Asda, Paperchase and publisher Reach have also announced cuts in other sectors.
The latest labour market statistics for the UK show trends that have been seen in recent quarters: a continued fall in earnings in real terms, a fall in the number of vacancies and an increase in redundancies. There was no change in the employment, unemployment, or economic inactivity rates from those published in the January statistics to those published in December – but is that about to change?
Hiring levels by sector
In the UK Candidate Attraction Report 2022-23*, now available as a free download, we asked respondents whether they anticipated an increase or decrease in the number of vacancies they would need to fill in 2023 and whether their recruitment marketing budget would increase or decrease. We report a general decline in those expecting an increase in hiring levels (49%, down from 73% in 2021). However, we should remember that the 2020 Pandemic effects probably skewed last year’s results.
Doing more with less
However, it appears that many teams are expected to do more with less since only 28% have a corresponding increase in their recruitment marketing budget, and 26% expect to have even less than last year. Whether this will satisfy the demand for new hires remains to be seen. The report shares a breakdown by sector for the next 12 months’ hiring expectation outlook - see page 43 for details.
Once again, recruitment and talent teams will have to adapt to the change in circumstances. Recruitment data will likely become ever more important as businesses look to get a better return on investment. The UK Candidate Attraction Report 2022-23 looks at measuring sourcing channel success, and it is evident that channel measurement is critical for getting the best quality and quantity of candidates.
Further reading and free stuff
The 7th Annual UK Candidate Attraction full 80-page report is available now for download free of charge.
*Eploy and HR Grapevine surveyed over 700 recruiters (90% in-house, 10% agency) to determine the candidate sourcing channels and recruitment marketing techniques that deliver the best results. Sourcing channels surveyed include company website/career site, talent pools, professional social networks, generalist job boards, specialist job boards, events, social media, employee referrals, CV databases, job aggregators, programmatic advertising and PSLs.
The survey asked In-house and Agency recruiters to rate each of their main sourcing channels in terms of the quantity and quality of candidates they typically generate. The complete report charts responses within a ‘Sourcing Channel Quadrant’, enabling recruiters to identify the effectiveness of each channel in each sector/industry and by company size.
