The way businesses function has undergone a massive transformation over the past two years, and the ‘Great Resignation’ is primarily responsible for leading this change.
It is estimated that in 2021, four million Americans quit their jobs each month. As a result, the number of job openings in the country grew to 11.3 million.
Simultaneously, phenomena like quiet quitting, quiet fleecing, and The Great Reshuffle, are creating an increasingly volatile and unpredictable job market, and businesses are scrambling to hire and retain quality talent. Significant changes in the work environment and practices are affecting the future of hiring.
To understand how businesses have adapted their recruitment and workplace strategies since 2020, Upwork surveyed 1,000 US hiring managers and compiled the findings in the Future Workforce Report 2022. This article will analyze the major insights from the report and suggest ways to improve your hiring efforts.
What are the key insights from the report?
The Future Workforce Report used survey data to identify hiring trends and the sentiments of hiring managers. The survey was conducted online between April 25 and May 10, 2022. Here’s what it found:
A move towards a freelance culture
One of the report's key findings is a growing inability to find quality talent and fill vacancies. Instead of resorting to full-time employees, companies are hiring freelancers with specialized skills. 60% of hiring managers revealed their plan to hire freelancers to manage specific tasks. Almost 80% of recruiters who work with skilled freelancers believe they can find the right talent for their organization, compared to just 63% of those who don’t engage freelancers.
Organizations are confident they can withstand any disruptions at work with the help of freelance professionals. The technology and the infrastructure to hire and work with high-quality, independent talent are evolving rapidly, making remote work seamless and giving businesses access to a larger talent pool. 79% agree that their business has become more innovative and explored more creative avenues since working with freelancers.
Over half (56%) of managers who engage with freelancers believe it is easier to source talent now than earlier. In contrast, just over a third (36%) of recruiters who don’t work with independent talent agree that hiring has become more manageable now.
The report also indicates that hiring managers will increase their dependence on freelance professionals soon. 60% of recruiters who work with independent talent say they plan to rely increasingly on freelancers over the next six months (58%) and the next two years (66%).
A growing demand for technical skills
In addition, the report also indicated an increased demand for professionals with specialized skills. 85% of hiring managers believe working with independent talent allows them to connect technical expertise.
Traditional hiring methods aren’t always suited for skill-based hiring. FloCareer’s On Demand Interviews include a variety of scenarios and coding assignments, making them a great way to hire for skill-based roles.
The impact of The Great Resignation
Of those surveyed, 43% of hiring managers felt the Great Resignation had negatively impacted their business, with the primary issue being difficulty in sourcing talent quickly (37%). The challenge faced by hiring managers is not just to hire employees but to find quality talent.
The Great Resignation did not affect all roles and industries equally. The level of remote work flexibility was a critical factor in determining the severity of the consequences. Remote-work organizations were the least affected (31%) compared to remote by day (55%) and on-site-first organizations (49%).
Businesses are responding in various ways to minimize the damage from the Great Resignation. 67% of businesses have suggested there would be many changes in the company’s long-term management practices. Common strategies include providing schedule flexibility, remote work options, and increased compensation.
Which roles are harder to hire for?
Recruitment has become increasingly hard for specific roles and skills. Hiring managers believe hiring for data science and analytics roles will be the most difficult (60%), followed by architecture and engineering (58%) and IT and networking (58%).
According to respondents, the roles they need to fill urgently are in accounting (33%), IT and networking (30%), and operations (29%). 52% of respondents said filling positions in customer support is a priority over the next six months.
How can you use these insights to improve your hiring efforts?
The findings from the report indicate that the struggle to hire quality talent will persist. However, hiring managers can proactively adapt their strategies and suggest changes in the workforce to improve talent acquisition and retention.
Understand what makes employees accept an offer
Gallup surveyed 13,085 U.S. employees to understand the critical factors in accepting or rejecting a new job offer.
64% of the respondents emphasize greater pay and benefits. Employees are realizing the intense competition for talent in the job market, allowing them to demand higher pay and better benefits.
Burnout has been a common symptom in the workforce, and 61% of respondents have prioritized work-life balance. Workers who haven’t experienced burnout have realized the importance of personal well-being while working remotely and wish for flexible work options in their future jobs.
58% of respondents believe they would thrive in the workplace if they enjoyed the work. They are seeking jobs where they can use their strengths to excel. Further, more than half the employees wished for stability and job security.
Moreover, companies must focus on increasing employee retention by improving job satisfaction and engagement. They can do this by treating employees respectfully, providing suitable compensation and job security, and creating opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Build an effective remote workforce
Companies should recognize and analyze the newly available talent and the open talent economy. The gig economy comprises different types of workers with varying needs. Companies must identify whether they require workers for a medium-term between three to five years or a longer term from five to ten years. Then, the company should create a strong workforce plan with a combination of talent, thinking machines, automation, and robotics.
Companies must also adapt their working methods to build an effective remote workforce. Remote employees must be given detailed information about policies, expectations, and guidelines to help increase productivity and transparency.
It’s also essential to develop a remote team structure for decision making, workflow, and communication and foster a culture of accountability.
Businesses should not be focused only on hiring talent. They should also invest in the right technology to help their employees deliver quality work.
Invest in technology
Companies are using cloud-based software systems so employees can access their systems securely from anywhere in the world. These systems offer quick backups and keep all the essential documents and data stored in one place. Employees can also access them from different devices securely.
Video calling apps like Google Meet and Zoom and instant messaging apps like Slack, Flock, and Twist help freelancers stay in touch with various teams and coordinate work easily. Such platforms are a cost-effective solution to keep the entire team in sync with ongoing work.
Upgrade your hiring process
Recruitment is not cheap; the average cost per hire is nearly $4,700. Improving your traditional hiring process that is riddled with problems can help you make better hires and save money on lengthy recruitment processes.
Conventional non-structured interviews result in hiring bias, where an interviewer judges a candidate based on gender, race, age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, accent, and looks. Instead, switch to structured interviews that measure a candidate’s suitability for a role using a predefined scale. This makes the process more objective and reliable.
How can FloCareer help you find the right freelance talent?
Insights from the Upwork 2022 report indicate the challenge of finding quality talent is here to stay. Going forward, businesses need an effective talent strategy that can scale and contract to navigate the turbulent job market.
Partner with FloCareer to find the right talent for your needs. We provide quick results - outsourcing the first round of interviews to FloCareer makes the process up to five times faster.
Our interview structuring solution makes hiring at scale a breeze with a custom question bank designed for your specific requirements. Our structured interviews also make the hiring process more inclusive and reduce bias.
Moreover, our team of over 4000 technical recruiters is trained to assess interviewees on specialized and soft skills. We’ve conducted 4000,000+ interviews for over 250 clients across industries, and helped them shortlist the most suitable candidates for their companies.
Request a live demo to find out how FloCareer can help you with your hiring needs.
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