What do recruitment experts say about recruitment in 2023?
Karsten Vikke, CEO at Ofir & MatchWork
What trends do you see in recruitment in 2023?
The high level of uncertainty in society war in Ukraine and high inflation and energy prices, there has been a major slowdown in the number of people changing jobs. It’s already very clear that the number of job changes is decreasing and that people are more likely to stay in their jobs. But it also comes on the back of over 1 million of the workforce changing jobs in the past year.
This means that it will continue to be difficult to recruit skilled employees, despite the fact that unemployment and the number of active job seekers will increase. Companies will see more applicants, but will still lack qualified candidates for a number of their positions because many will hold back from applying further.
If Danmarks Nationalbank’s GDP forecast is correct, the economy and thus energy prices, inflation, etc. will not continue to explode, and it will hopefully also boost companies’ appetite for hiring new employees – something that has dropped a lot since September. But the deciding factor here is the development of the economy.
2021 and 2022 have been a job seeker’s market, and you’ve been able to pick and choose. Here I expect 2023 to be more balanced.
Is there anything in our approach to recruitment that has changed from the past?
I’ve touched on it a bit above. Other things include remote work, which has seen a huge boom during and after Corona. This, coupled with the challenge of recruiting new employees in 2021 and 2022, has led many companies to be more flexible with remote work, either out of necessity or desire. I think flexibility will continue to be a big part of the future, as it’s hard to accept a change in work-life balance. But I also think there will be more employers who will change their mindset again and demand more time in the office because it creates a different set of challenges around building and maintaining culture, knowledge sharing and communication. And I’m skeptical about the argument that you’re more efficient when you’re remote. There are just a lot of jobs and positions where remote work doesn’t make a lot of sense
Where to be present?
Now, coming from a job portal myself, if you want the strongest applicant pool possible, you need to target both active and passive job seekers, and the best way to do that is to combine the traditional job ad on a job portal with a targeted job campaign on social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
What do you need to do to stand out?
- Choose the right channels for your job posting: job portal + social media. You’ll reach more relevant people than your competitors at a fraction of the cost.
- Invest some time or money in writing a good job posting. It makes a noticeable difference. Good communication (as a job posting is) always makes a difference. And hold back on the demands. You have to sell the job.
- Make the application method easy. Don’t overload applicants with all the information they have to enter, it only leads to the most persistent ones applying. And are they necessarily the best applicants?
- Return with answers to ALL applicants. If you don’t treat your applicants well, word of mouth will spread and your employer brand will suffer.
If you follow the above, which certainly isn’t particularly time-consuming or expensive, you’ll stand out from the crowd. With the vast majority of companies downplaying recruitment, it’s actually not that difficult to stand out in a positive way.
What do you need to do to attract talent?
Focus on the good things about the job and your company. Employee Value Propositions (EVPs). Put them in the post at the very top and be specific about them. It can typically make a difference to find out what good things are actually happening in your business.
Mads Beck, CEO & HR Consultant at mind A/S & mind Academy
When we look into the crystal ball of the future of recruitment, it’s hard to see what’s going to happen right now. We may be looking at an upcoming recession, but which industries will be affected and how it will impact the job market is uncertain.
Therefore, it’s probably a little easier to predict what we won’ t see in 2023.
I don’t think we’re going to see an aha moment where all of our recruitment problems are suddenly solved – not in the form of more job portals, AI (artificial intelligence) or other systems that can provide a quick-fix solution. Even though that’s what we’re looking for.
If I were to try to put into words who will probably win the recruitment game in 2023, I think it’s those who return to and dedicate time and resources to one of the old virtues of preparation – and going the extra mile.
Because we can easily join the chorus of companies that are shouting and making more and more noise. But everyone wants to do that, and then more and more people start shouting. But it’s through preparation and hard work that we can stand out. When we can concretize and clarify what we’re looking for in a candidate in a job posting, the quality will follow. It’s not concrete enough to write down general tasks as we do now. For example, that the job requires you to “Contact customers with a view to upselling”. Make it clear which customers, how many per day and what the demand for results is. Get much more specific about everyday behaviors on the job.
When we’ve done the groundwork properly, we know what it takes for the candidate to be successful in the job. I believe we need to reduce the requirement for skills and experience and instead increase the description of what constitutes successful behavior on the job. We can also minimize the unfortunate statistic that 60% of people leave a job within a year because their day-to-day life didn’t match what the job posting promised.
Another thing I think the companies that win the battle for candidates’ favor have in common is that they already describe the concrete development opportunities and include motivational goal setting in the job posting. It’s not necessarily about salary and other financial incentives, but rather how you as an individual can develop both professionally and personally. Most people want to grow. And everyone wants to be successful.
If we look at how companies should draw attention to their vacancies, it’s no longer enough to simply advertise. We must try to shift from a passive recruitment strategy (which is what advertising is) to an active recruitment strategy where we dare to seek out interesting candidates and reach out to them. So search and direct headhunting will play a bigger role in 2023.
Niels Sparre, Partner and Management Consultant at INDKOM
Recruitment in 2023 is difficult to predict – especially given the state of the world right now. However, due to the crisis and recession, we will probably see a shift from a job seeker’s market to a job taker’s market. Despite these developments in the job market, there will still be industries and job functions where it will be difficult to find candidates. This may mean that more people will work proactively and hire candidates and develop them within the company (specialist jobs).
However, the fact that it can be difficult to find candidates has also had a positive impact. By that I mean that the dialog between candidate and company has become more equal, which I hope will continue even if there is a shift from a job seeker’s to a job taker’s market. I’ve found that the equal dialog has helped to increase the alignment of expectations – and the better the alignment of expectations, the better matches are created.
Because certain industries will continue to struggle to find candidates, I think the increased focus on employer branding is really important to continue. Quick fixes and advertising are not the way forward. But employer branding and being less reactive and more proactive is where you can make a difference. Diversity initiatives can also become a focus area. Flexibility in terms of working from home will be a requirement from the job seeker.
In terms of existing trends, I think the trend of anonymization is here to stay. I see both pros and cons to this. Of course, it’s positive that decisions are based on skills and not name and gender. But at the same time, I also think anonymization can take away some of the personality of a CV with a photo. I think SoMe will become even more important – both search via LinkedIn and candidate experiences being shared.
To stand out and attract talent, I find that employer branding is once again the focal point. Today, more than ever, our jobs need to be meaningful and reinforce our sense of contribution. Being able to make a difference, whether it’s in terms of sustainability or something else. And these are the things companies should highlight in their job posting.
Secondly, I also think we need to be more daring in our job postings. We need to be less clichéd and more honest, for example “We are a growing company, so we need to work more than 37 hours a week at times”. That way, candidates know what they’re getting into – even if it’s not an “in” statement in times of four-day work weeks. But it can be a reality.
And to attract candidates, you need to create a good working environment and good conditions. The fine words and values we use to describe our company must be put into practice. So the combination of employer branding and the organization’s work on psychological safety becomes paramount – because it’s easier to attract talent when they hear that it’s a great place to work.
