Universum surveyed a grand total of 1,656 talent leaders spread across 75 countries and 35 industries. The report also incorporates 60 of the 90 World’s Most Attractive Employers (WMAEs). The goal of the survey is to give an ideas as to how companies are competing in the midst of a critical talent shortage.
Trend #1: The hiring environment will get worse
Not to be the bearer of bad news, but Universum’s research shows the hiring environment for knowledge workers across industries is likely to worsen in the next 12 months. On average, 7 out of 10 talent leaders say the hiring environment is getting harder. That’s a record-high in the 8 years that Universum has run a talent leader survey.
Trend #2: Recruiting budgets are shrinking
Despite the notion that the hiring environment is bad, Universum’s research shows that recruiting budgets are shrinking in 2022. That’s even the case for the sixty of the World’s Most Attractive Employers, which in itself is remarkable because 58% of WMAEs say their recruiting needs for the next 12 months will increase.
“Low unemployment coupled with rising numbers of open positions are both clear signals of the severity of the crisis.”
The overall hiring needs has increased by a whopping 23% from 2021 to 2022. Pre-pandemic, in 2019, that number was at 48% — but it dipped in 2020 and 2021. It seems as if the world of talent acquisition has fully awakened to its need for more people — but it may be too late. “Low unemployment coupled with rising numbers of open positions are both clear signals of the severity of the crisis”, the report states.
Trend #3: Companies still aren’t data-driven
In recent years, turning recruitment into a data-driven process has become a priority for talent leaders. But as often is the case, viewing something as a priority and actually prioritising is something else completely. Universum research indicates that only 50% of those surveyed ‘frequently or always’ make employer brand marketing decisions that are data-driven. “As hiring needs ramp up in 2022-23, making the argument for bigger budgets relies on a data-driven approach”, Universum say.
Trend #4: Building beats buying
As far as where the investments are made, the report points to ‘heavy investments’ in the field of reskilling existing talent and promoting people from within. “It’s a win-win for employers, who can access skills that are in high demand and/or low supply, while also building a reputation as a company that invests in talent”, the report states.
“Companies can source specific skills from within their own ranks, plus use the educational opportunities to attract and retain employees.”
“Given the severe shortage of specific skills such as developers, data scientists, and analysts, many companies are investing in university-quality training programs for high-potential talent”, says Richard Mosley, chief strategist at Universum. “Companies can source specific skills from within their own ranks, plus use the educational opportunities to attract and retain employees.”
Trend #5: Employer branding is the number one priority
Amidst the talent crisis, employer branding is widely viewed as the number one priority among large companies. For the WMAE, Employer Branding is in fact the top priority in 2022. 86% say it’s one of their top priorities, up 15 points from 2021. Even among non-WMAE enterprise brands, Employer Branding is a growing priority. 75% of enterprise brands say it’s a priority, compared to 65% last year.
86% say it’s one of their top priorities, up 15 points from 2021.
Best-in-class talent companies view Employer Branding as an asset, not an expense. “At a time when talent professionals are maxed out with high turnover and record-high hiring needs, Employer Branding helps across the spectrum of talent attraction, hiring and retention. From pulling in a larger pool of attractive candidates and improving offer acceptance rates, to building better employee experiences.”
Read more:
- 27 things we didn’t know about the European labour market (part 1/2)
- 27 things we didn’t know about the European labour market (part 2/2)
