The recruitment industry in 2022 continues the significant shifts in hiring and the workplace that were brought about by the pandemic. There’s a bigger emphasis on making the digital switch for many businesses and companies. Hybrid and remote work setups are no longer just stop-gap measures but viable working systems. While 2021 was characterized by The Great Resignation, a quick review of 2022 recruitment news makes it seem like this phenomenon is slowing down – but is it really over?
The year 2022 marks the proper beginning of post-pandemic work, with job candidates leading the charge to enact change in the workplace, based on learnings and realizations gleaned from the worldwide health crisis.
In this blog, we’ll cover the biggest changes in 2022 in the world of recruitment and how these shifts will affect the present and future of work.
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2022 Recruitment News for Recruiters
The post-pandemic era is in full force in 2022. The world is inching towards recovery, including the recruitment industry. According to Monster’s 2022 Global Report, at least 93% of companies are in the midst of some kind of hiring in 2022, up from 82% in 2021. The confidence in hiring the right candidate, though, has gone down. From 95% in 2020, it is now only at 91%.
According to the same report, here are the recruitment industry’s key challenges for the next 3 years:
1. Finding the right candidates
There’s a big competition among available (and even unavailable) skilled talents as the skills gap has steadily increased over the years. Recruiters point to finding qualified hires (61%) as their top recruitment concern. Other predominant concerns include identifying existing talent with matching skills (37%) and finding entry-level candidates with the proper qualifications (34%).
2. Work-life balance expectations
Workers and employers have yet to find a middle ground when it comes to priorities in the workplace. In this regard, workers are leading the charge, demanding changes to enforce real work-life balance beyond the superficial perks and benefits.
3. Increased competition
With talent shortage, employers compete for a smaller talent pool. In 2022, the old ways of passive recruitment are now out the window. Strengthening employer branding and improving the candidate experience (nearly half of job candidates drop out of a bad recruitment experience) are crucial for companies to win over job candidates.
Optimizing the hiring experience is not just a good tactic to adopt to attract job candidates. With the average cost of recruitment in 2022 amounting to 4,700 USD (but may even be higher according to experts), shortening recruitment days (from 41 days on average) is one way to make the process more cost-efficient.
Trends and shifts in recruitment 2022
The recruitment industry in 2022 is in the midst of a massive flux as it seeks to address the changes posed by the post-pandemic world. Here are a few of the shifts recruiters can expect from 2022 and the next coming years:
1. Next chapter of the Great Resignation
One of the biggest stories in the recruitment industry in 2022 is the rise of C-suite resignations. Many senior executives are feeling burnt out and dissatisfied with their positions and employers. Some of their top reasons include navigating the hybrid work setup and feeling largely unsupported by their companies in terms of mental health and tools to develop the workforce.
2. Prioritizing DEI in recruitment
According to this report, achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) continues to be a top priority for companies worldwide. While more and more employers are committed to launching many DEI initiatives, there’s plenty of work left to be done. Many job candidates still feel that companies treat DEI as a mere checklist item rather than a genuine move towards making their workplaces inclusive.
3. Automation in recruitment
The recruitment industry is looking into the use of AI and automation as a means to address its slew of challenges. In 2022, PRO Unlimited launched Total Talent Intelligence Solution to “assist businesses in taking a strategic approach to building contingent and full-time workforces.” Improving employee retention, being one of the recruitment industry’s top concerns, there’s a push to use AI-based internal marketplaces to aid companies in providing internal mobility for their full-time employees. Building qualified talent pools is another major challenge for recruiters. To help address this need, Joblu provides employers with tools to build a long-term talent pipeline through its huge database of job seekers from all over the world.
4. Targeting Gen Z employees
One of the biggest shifts in the recruitment industry is the entry of the newest generation of employees — the Gen Z. Apart from having grown up in the social media era, this is the generation that came of age during the pandemic. A key challenge for recruiters, especially those from different generations, is to strip away the stereotypes placed on this new generation to better appeal to them as job candidates.
5. Screening in and other strategies for the hypercompetitive workplace
The SHRM Talent Conference & Expo 2022 in Denver is one of the biggest recruitment industry events in 2022. One of the key learnings in the expo is the need to unlearn many recruitment habits to address the current issues of the industry. ‘Screening in’ or hiring for competencies and training on the job, using technology to prevent recruiter burnout, and improving the overall candidate experience were some of the strategies presented by the panel of experts.
2022 Recruitment news for job seekers
Job seekers have become more empowered than ever, coming from the lessons and realizations of the pandemic. There’s been a global shift in terms of people’s relationships with their jobs, and now workers — in particular Millennials and Gen Z — are leading the fight for a people-first mentality among employers and companies.
Top priorities of job seekers 2022
1. Fair compensation
Having felt the brunt of the pandemic, workers are now empowering themselves to demand fair pay. 71% of workers have become more comfortable negotiating salaries in the current job market — a significant 19 percentage rise since 2018.
2. Flexible work arrangements
Remote work is here to stay because the majority of workers demand it, even as the number of remote job postings fall. A recent survey shows that 50% of WFH employees would quit if forced to return to the office.
3. Values and culture
Job seekers may be looking for more financial stability in the post-pandemic world. However, the need to find purpose and meaning in their jobs remains, with 34% of workers saying they wouldn’t mind earning less money if their job was contributing something to society.
Top concerns of job seekers & employees in 2022
1. Mass layoffs in 2022
One of the biggest stories in the recruitment and labor industry in 2022 is the mass layoffs happening worldwide, particularly in the tech industry. There are varying reasons but the most prevalent seems to be the rising global inflation that has caused digital advertisers to cut back on spending.
2. Salary transparency
Many experts have dubbed 2022 as the year of salary transparency, as the majority of job candidates wish for wage and benefit information to be provided on job postings. The City of New York now requires employers to include salary ranges in their job ads. Employers are also seeing the benefit of salary transparency in attracting more candidates.
3. Ghosting in the workplace
The prevalence of ghosting in the hiring process is one of the biggest stories in the recruitment industry in 2022. Job candidate ghosting has been discussed in the recruitment world as early as 2018, but has recently gained traction as more workers have less patience for poor hiring experiences and enjoy more job options. Recruiter ghosting, on the other hand, has been happening for many years. It has only recently been a trending topic as workers open up about their bad application experiences online.
4. More employers offer mental wellness benefits
One big lesson that employers have taken away from the pandemic is the importance of providing support for their employees’ mental health, especially in the wake of the Great Resignation. However, while employers feel they’ve taken great strides in improving their mental health benefits, a significant percentage of employees still don’t feel their impact.
The biggest stories in the recruitment industry in 2022 are just the tip of the iceberg of the shifts happening in the job market. In the next few years, we’ll be seeing if the lessons we’ve collectively learned from the pandemic will positively impact recruitment, especially in the midst of the challenges of the global economic recession. The entry of a new generation into the workplace is another shift the industry has to contend with, along with the adjustment to the digital era.
In the thick of these massive changes, employers are urged to review and revitalize their recruitment strategies and policies. In addition, employees are encouraged to continue their empowerment to drive changes in business and companies in favor of the worker.
Joblu is on a mission to provide a swift, efficient, and seamless hiring experience for employers and candidates alike in 2022 and beyond. The app aims to help employers build long-term talent pipelines.
Recruiters all over the world — tap the best and most-qualified global talents with a swipe when you sign up for Joblu. First-time job-seekers, job-hunters, and career-shifters — find a meaningful job and work anywhere with Joblu.
Frequently Asked Questions about 2022 Recruitment News
Q: What are the recruitment trends in 2022?
A: The top trends according to recruitment news in 2022 include employers prioritizing DEI initiatives, automation, and AI as recruitment and employee retention tools, and the need for employer branding and perfecting the hiring experience to attract more job candidates.
Q: Is recruitment a good career in 2022?
A: If you want an extra-challenging career, then it is. Recruitment is always challenging, but it will be even more so in the coming years, what with the massive changes in the industry and the economic recession.
Q: Why is it so hard to get a job right now in 2022?
A: Getting a job in 2022 is hard because of the stiff competition in many of the most in-demand (and limited) job positions.
Q: How do you attract candidates in 2022?
A: Having solid employer branding is key to attracting candidates in 2022. Providing a good candidate experience is one big part of this. More and more job seekers read company reviews online before applying for job postings. If they find consistently negative reviews about an employer, they are less likely to respond to job ads or attend interviews.
Q: Why is recruiting so hard right now?
A: Recruiting is hard right now because of the skills gap in job candidates, resulting in stiffer competition for available talent. Employers are also having a hard time matching the work-life balance expectations of many job seekers.
