Are You Prepared For the New Wave of Talent?
2021 is set to be an optimistic year for recruiting.
In fact, 65% of employers in the UK are feeling optimistic about hiring in the year ahead, even with the challenges of hybrid working, job-related anxiety, and anticipation for the future.
An increased demand for talent can often mean an increased skills gap, however, and 87% of employers say they struggle to fill positions as a result of the skills gap, with over a third of UK employers believing the skills gap has increased in the past year.
With this comes a host of sectors that are booming and others that are experiencing a temporary standstill – but how can you leverage the available talent, and what is the state of the candidate market in the most booming sectors?
Which sectors are experiencing a hiring increase?
Unsurprisingly, healthcare ranks at the top of a survey by Monster at 89%, followed by manufacturing at 77%, technology at 69% and retail at 69%.
In technology, manufacturing, and enterprise, there’s a higher level of confidence in filling vacancies, with 94% of recruiters saying they are confident they can find the right candidate.
Even with an optimistic outlook in these sectors, there are still a host of challenges to contend with.
The challenges for recruiters
The top five challenges for recruiters in the UK are as follows:
Work-life balance expectations
Determining candidates work from home productivity potential
Virtual recruiting
Filtering increased candidates
Finding candidates with the necessary skills
The pandemic has seen a shift in the way that work-life balance is viewed by candidates, after over a year of remote or hybrid working across the UK. As a result, candidates are looking for employers who will offer more flexibility, and higher job security.
47% of UK employers increased remote flexibility, and introduced flexible work schedules, so it’s likely that these policy changes may not disappear entirely, and if anything, are likely to be in demand from candidates.
Virtual Recruitment
Higher demand for recruitment in the areas mentioned above meant adapting to recruitment processes that were no longer face-to-face.
In the UK, 74% of companies say their recruiting and onboarding process is at least half virtual, which is higher than the global average of 70%.
Virtual recruitment poses unique challenges when attempting to leverage the talent in the candidate market, as screening pre-interview, assessment of candidates during the interview process, and identifying quality candidates are all impacted by the virtual shift.
Most importantly, virtual recruitment can cause difficulties for both recruiters and candidates in terms of determining a culture/value alignment.
In-demand skills
71% of employers believe that the skillsets needed have changed as a result of the pandemic, with over half believing there is a significant skills gap within their workforce, according to Michael Page4.
This comes alongside a renewed focus on transferable skills, in conjunction with skills now necessary to adapt to remote or hybrid working models, such as managing staff remotely, good communication skills, and resilience.
Given the reliance on technology for remote working, employers are also seeking candidates with experience using technology platforms, which is certainly a new priority in the hiring process.
What are the top skills employers should be looking for?
Though the need for hard skills isn’t likely to disappear anytime soon, there’s an increased demand for soft and transferable skills to fill the gaps across sectors.
The top skills according to Monster are:
Dependability
Collaboration
Problem solving/critical thinking
Flexibility
Interestingly, a lot of these soft skills have been discussed in our article ‘What Does a Reduced Headcount in the Army mean for the Ex-Forces Market?’– specifically, oral communication, team-working, teaching others, and managing and motivating staff.
Many employers will be aware of, and already searching for, these soft skills.
But how do you leverage them?
How can you leverage these skills?
A key issue highlighted by Prospects is that candidate applications can often lack evidence of soft skills – it’s not that candidates don’t have the skills that are in short supply, but that they may not be aware of how vital they can be to an application.
Job adverts are the best place to highlight this.
Having a clear emphasis on transferable and soft skills in job descriptions can go a long way in ensuring that candidates who can fill these skills gaps outline their skillsets to their full potential.
Often, a candidate will focus on their academic history and technical competency, which is why soft skills should be mentioned in job adverts, or during the onboarding process.
Consider your process
When it comes to the onboarding process, particularly interviews, a lot of time and discussion is spent on questions around job experience and academic/technical backgrounds.
In order to also prioritise the current skills candidates have that fill the gaps across sectors, the interview process needs to match this gap as well.
Conveying the skills that an ideal candidate would have during the interview allows a candidate to discuss their own, whilst mentioning the skills that they can build upon whilst in the role gives them an idea of how they can develop.
Offering the opportunity to build upon skills is also a great incentive – you’re getting to know which skills a candidate has, whilst also knowing which areas they want to build upon that may be vital to your company in filling skills gaps.
Final thoughts
2021 is a year of shifting demands, from both recruiters and candidates.
These demands reflect our society’s needs, including the shift to more flexible and hybrid working models, and a shift towards ‘non-conventional’ skills, rather than traditional academic and technical backgrounds.
Though the booming sectors may shift as we move closer to 2022, the need to fill skills gaps won’t – now, more than ever, employers need to be using a well-rounded approach to their hiring processes to find the best candidates to fit their company.