The average small business in the U.S. has about 5 employees. Although this number seems low, it does mean most small enterprises, especially sole proprietorships, will eventually expand and start hiring employees.
Hiring your first few employees is always exciting, but as the need to bring in more workers increases, recruitment can turn into an activity you dread. This is because finding the right employee every time you’re hiring becomes more difficult. The labor market is super competitive.
To stay ahead of the competition, it’s important to keep an eye on recruiting trends and incorporate them into your strategy. In this guide, we’re sharing some of the top trends that are shaping the labor market in 2023.
Remote Hiring
In 2023, about 16 percent of U.S. companies are fully remote, and about 60 percent of employees work remotely at least part of the time.
Although some companies are transitioning back to the office as the COVID-19 pandemic becomes a thing of the past, there’s no doubt remote work is here to stay. This has led to the rise of remote hiring as one of this year’s hottest recruitment trends.
Remote recruitment is the process of sourcing, interviewing, and onboarding new employees without requiring them to make an in-person visit to a physical office at any stage.
Recruiting remotely gives you access to a wider talent pool, reduces your hiring and office costs, and improves employee productivity. However, employers must watch out for the potential downsides of remote hiring.
For example, it can be difficult to find the right workers since there’s a lot you cannot tell about a job applicant when interviewing them remotely. It’s also possible to fall for scams that will waste your time and money.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
How racially and ethnically diverse is your workforce?
In America, 77 percent of the workforce is white, while 18 and 13 percent are Hispanic/Latino and black, respectively. With these figures, it’s easy to see why many employers are prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workplaces.
However, gone are the days when workplace diversity was all about equitable representation of workers from different racial backgrounds and genders. Today, it also includes workers from different generation groups, sexual orientations, abilities, and religions.
The vast majority of today’s job seekers assess an organization’s commitment to DEI before applying for a job or taking up an offer. So, building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace will give your organization a competitive advantage in the labor market.
That being said, it’s important to note that it takes time to build a diverse workplace. You cannot fire some of your current employees simply because you want to make room for employees from another race, gender, ability, age, or sexual orientation. Anti-discrimination laws also prohibit stating a preference for protected characteristics (such as race) in job advertisements.
Gen Z Focus
Some of the people born in the early 2000s (known as Generation Z) are becoming of age and transitioning into the workforce. By 2025, Gen Z will make up 25 percent of the world’s workforce.
Gen Zers were young kids just the other day, but they’re now professionals who’re ready to contribute in the workplace. As an employer, you’ve probably been seeing an increasing number of job applications by people in their early to mid-twenties. How many of them have you hired?
First, in the spirit of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, you have to hire Gen Zers. Considering that the labor market will be full of Gen Zers in a few years, it’s in the best interest of your organization to start bringing them on board. Not many of them will want to work in a workplace that’s awash with boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials.
Second, hiring Gen Zers gives you an opportunity to build a team of employees that’s adept with technology and the internet. With this group, you won’t invest a lot of time training them how to use computers and other electronic devices in the workplace. Gen Zers are also eager to work from home, which is a plus for organizations that offer remote work.
Hiring Automation
Automation is finding its way into various business processes, including hiring. In 2023, an increasing number of organizations are using artificial intelligence solutions to automate recruitment. It’s time to hop on this trend if you haven’t already.
How can AI help automate your hiring processes? A lot depends on the specific AI tool you’ll be using.
Some tools, for example, will integrate with workplace software like Slack and listen in on your conversations with the aim of picking clues about your hiring needs. The tool can find hiring gaps, create job descriptions, and automatically post job ads on job boards. Further, AI tools can “read” job applications, pick out the qualifying candidates, and schedule interviews.
You can read about AI in recruiting for deeper insights into how to use it in your organization.
Rising Demand for Gig Workers/Freelancers
About 61 million workers in the U.S. are freelancers, a figure which is forecast to keep rising.
There are two main reasons behind the growth of the gig economy. More workers are looking for better work-life balance and many organizations are looking to cut labor costs. The gig economy offers both worlds.
As an employer, you can’t ignore the potential benefits of having freelancers or independent contractors on your teams.
Keep Up With These Recruiting Trends
Employee recruitment is a crucial process in any organization. As a business owner or employer, it’s your responsibility to develop and implement a recruitment strategy that suits your organization. Staying abreast of recruiting trends will put you in a better position to develop an effective hiring strategy.
