JOB MARKET: Where Did Everybody Go?

by Human ResourcesRecruitment Advertising

In this post-pandemic era, recruiters and candidates are playing a more aggressive game of hide and seek. Candidates are more difficult to find due to a variety of market realities. And there is even more pressure on talent acquisition professionals to find that needle in a haystack.

Let’s take a look at some valuable numbers and information that you could be monitoring to keep your finger on the pulse of a market’s “recruitability.”

Your talent market could be shrinking due to cost of living.

Markets where costs, taxes, etc. are out of control have seen an exodus of talent moving out for greener (like in more money for you) pastures.  Residents in the states below are rushing to more affordable states – most of which are located in the south and the central time zone.

Most Expensive States to Live in 2022

1                 Hawaii

2                 Washington DC

3                 New York

4                 California

5                 Massachusetts

6                 Oregon

7                 Alaska

8                 Maryland

9                 Connecticut

10              Rhode Island

Your talent market could be shrinking due to employee participation.

Take a look at your state’s labor participation rate. This represents the number of people in the labor force as a percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population. In other words, the participation rate is the percentage of the population that is either working or actively looking for work.

That number has fallen nationally in recent years meaning that a smaller part of the workforce is holding or seeking employment.  Look at some of the states with the lowest rates. Remember that some states may be more highly affected by the number of retirees.

Participation Rate

West Virginia      55.2
Mississippi           55.3
New Mexico       56.5
Arkansas              56.8
South Carolina   57.0

Your talent market could be shrinking due to lower productivity.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says this about productivity, “With growth in productivity, an economy is able to produce—and consume—increasingly more goods and services for the same amount of work.” Simply said, lower productivity requires a larger workforce to produce the same amount of goods and services.

Feeding a drop in productivity are those who are allegedly engaging in “quiet quitting.”  That means the employee slowly reduces their engagement, eventually doing only the minimum work required by the job description. I’m not sure how true this supposed trend is but an annual Gallup poll shows engagement going down and disengagement trending upward in recent years.

Here are some markets where productivity has dropped from 2020 to 2021.

States with the steepest drop in productivity

Alaska                  – 3.0%
Wyoming             – 2.9%
Rhode Island      – 0.8%
Hawaii                  – 0.8%
Delaware             – 0.7%
Florida                 – 0.5%

Want to discuss the “recruitability” of your marketplace in greater depth? Let’s talk. Call your SCG representative.

Trendwatch-R-16x9

SCG Trendwatch: Recruitment Industry News & Insights – June 2021

by with No Comment AdvertisingMarketing

TrendwatchWelcome to your monthly round-up for busy HR professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the recruitment landscape. Check in each month for the latest updates from all over the web. 

3 Benefits of Staying Connected to Former Employees 

Today, millennials are now the largest generation in the workforce. In conjunction with Generation Z, together, they make up over half of the American workforce. For many years, millennials have also been criticized as job hoppers. However, a survey done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, among jobs started by 35 to 44-year-olds, 36% ended in less than a year, and 75% ended in less than five years. While job-hopping isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it can affect a company’s reputation if they are seeing a high rate of employee churn.  Read more…

 

Mandating Vaccination for New Hires 

We’re coming out of the pandemic! This is so great, right?  

It’s not really over, though. With less than 70% of the population vaccinated, it looks like Covid-19 will be around for a while, especially in states with less than 50% vaccinated. (You know who you are.)  

In late May, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provided guidance on whether employers could mandate the vaccine. Their answer: Yes, employers are allowed to mandate the vaccine if they have a business reason to do so — provided that the employer reasonably accommodates those employees who cannot be vaccinated for religious or disability-related reasons.  Read more…

  

Leverage Your Circle of Influence to Improve Employee Engagement 

The concept of the Circle of Influence was made popular in Stephen Covey’s best-selling book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, released in 1989. In the chapter describing the first habit, Be Proactive, he explains how people respond differently to factors that are in their Circle of Concern, Influence, and Control. 

Many people tend to think of factors that are either within or outside their control. The Circle of Influence provides a third important alternative to help expand our impact, especially as it relates to employee engagement. Read more…

  

Leadership in the Hybrid Workplace 

Is the hybrid workplace here to stay? A behavioral scientist named Jon Levy wrote an article in the Boston Globe (gated access) that essentially said, “Nah, I don’t think so.” And the internet blew up. (As it does.) Whether he’s correctly called it or not remains to be seen. For now, leadership in the hybrid workplace definitely is a thing and here are my hot takes for your consideration.  Read more…

 

What Candidates Value in the Post-Pandemic Market 

It seems that even as the pandemic eases and life gets back to something like “normal,” workers are going to be in motion. That means employers should prepare themselves for new dynamics in the labor market, and new expectations from candidates and employees. 

Although 87% of workers are confident about their current skill set and job security, nearly a third, 32%, plan to look for a new role over the next several months, according to a survey by Robert Half. The primary reasons, at 29% each: the chance to earn more money, and better opportunities for advancement. Read more…

  

Will employers see resignation spikes this summer? 

While general wisdom holds that few people wanted to leave their jobs during the pandemic, data from Visier shows that voluntary resignations did not drop as dramatically as may have been presumed — and for some groups of employees, resignations even increased, the workforce analytics platform’s report said. The report analyzed anonymized, standardized workforce data of over 9 million employee records from more than 4,000 companies.  Read more…

Recruitment Advertising

Some Things Old Are New Again in Recruitment Advertising

by with No Comment Human ResourcesRecruitment Advertising

Recruitment Advertising

Recruitment advertising continues to change.  Just a few decades ago, the main way of recruiting was an ad in the local newspaper, maybe a few radio spots or a billboard.  Flyers on car windshields or a small ad in the town’s church bulletin worked well.

 

Then, new technology entered the world of recruitment advertising.  The newspaper was now online, radio spots were almost non-existent and billboards were priced out of the market.  And flyers?  Hmmm … just not the way to go.  Social media job postings became the new kids on the block … a way to get candidates to apply NOW … not with a mailed resume … but by email or apply online.  Email blasts to a candidate database were a good way to reach that special demographic.

 

And now, recruitment advertising seems to be changing again.  While newspapers still don’t have the huge recruitment section they had before, more and more ads are being placed.  Radio is working well and billboards, now much more reasonable in price, are back again.  And those car windshield flyers or church bulletin ads?  They’re working!  Email blasts are still out there, but direct mail is growing in demand (yes, it seems people still like to get mail).

 

I handle clients who love print advertisements and receive great results.  Others swear by radio spots and/or billboards.  It’s up to me to know the old school way of thinking, as well as the new school of thinking, and what works best for my clients.

 

And one thing I do know … don’t always sell clients on the new way of thinking when the old way of thinking just might be the way to go.  Mix them together … see what works for each client.  Each of my clients is different and diverse; like their media plan should be.

 

Old just might be new again.

recruiters marketers

In 2018, recruiters need to act like marketers. Oh, really?

by with No Comment AdvertisingHuman ResourcesMarketingRecruitment Advertising

recruitment marketingAt the beginning of each year the recruitment pundits make their predictions as to the trends that will take place in the coming year. They are hoping to give recruiters a head-start in preparing and implementing new strategies. For the most part they are all interesting and informative.

Of course, in a recruitment marketplace that is showing great job growth (January-March had the strongest average monthly job growth since 1997) and extremely low unemployment (January-March holding at 4.1%), successful talent acquisition becomes a much more daunting task. Recruiters are looking for anything that will provide the edge they need. (For more information on why the market is tightening click here.)

In trying to digest all of the suggestions, I noticed that a great number of them were saying that in 2018 recruiters need to be marketers. Hmm. Good and very pertinent suggestion; but shouldn’t talent acquisition professionals always act like marketers?

The objective of a professional talent acquisition team is to identify, attract and onboard talent that will enable the company to meet and even exceed their goals. They strive to put together strategies that will bring the best and brightest to their team. That requires constantly selling the company and continually building the employer brand by consistently repeating the employee value proposition (EVP) – what the employee receives in return for the expertise brought to the table. That is certainly no different than a marketer approaches building their brand.

Below are some things that as a recruitment marketer you can be concentrating on:

Build a consistent employer brand
This will make the candidates predisposed to applying.

Gather market intelligence
This will help you to know your competition and where you can find your next superstar.

Put your advantages front and center in copy
This will help to attract more individuals from which to choose.

Choose your media wisely
There are so many channels out there they can be confusing or the perfect targeting tools.  But it takes homework.

Don’t stop
No matter the job market’s supply and demand, always think like a marketer.

Of course, it would help to have a partner in your recruitment efforts with experience in recruitment and marketing such as an agency full of talent like SCG.  At SCG, in our daily practice we use the Peso model (Paid, earned, shared and owned media) specifically designed for HR, shown below, as the center of our strategic planning to help you achieve your goals.  Contact the SCG location nearest to you.

HR Peso Model

recruitment Peso model