What trend is dominating hiring this year?

Diversity is the number one trend shaping the future of hiring and recruitment, according to LinkedIn’s global recruiting trends report.

The survey of 8,815 talent acquisition professionals and hiring managers found that 78% thought that diversity was very or extremely important, beating new interviewing tools (56%), data (50%), and artificial intelligence (AI) (35%).

When it came to the reasons why diversity scores so highly, the data shows that 78% of companies prioritise diversity to improve culture, and 62% do so to boost financial performance. Half (49%) wanted to better represent their customer base.

Diversity efforts tend to be centred around gender, with 71% of firms stating they have a focus in this area. Only half (49%) agree they have a focus on race and ethnicity, half (48%) on age, and 43% on educational differences.