Weaver & Associates routinely assists clients with recruiting at all levels of employment. Recently, we have been involved in recruiting for several technical positions and those at a Director level or higher. Six out of ten emerging jobs are for technology talent and with unemployment at a nine-year low, the battle for talent is on! In my 15+ years of recruiting, this is THE wildest market I’ve seen in a long time.
Here’s why:
- Companies are counter-offering to keep their people, sometimes at 20% or more pay
- Candidates are applying for jobs and accepting another offer within 1-2 weeks
- Qualified applicant pools are dropping by 10-20% due to other companies snatching up people quickly
- More candidates in technology and specialized skills areas (like engineering) want to go “contract” to increase their hourly rate by 20-45% and to obtain flexibility in their work schedules
- Workplace flexibility is desired by employees in multiple generational groups – Baby-boomers and Millennials
Indeed.com is #1 in the world for job postings. Indeed’s Chief Economist, Tara M. Sinclair, PhD, highlights what I have seen here in the Treasure Valley in her 2015 report, “Emerging Interests of Today’s Job Seeker”. She cites that the second most frequent searches and themes candidates are seeking is “flexible work options”. They are searching keywords for “part time”, “work from home” and “remote” jobs. Many companies have not yet caught up with this shift in availability and desire for flexibility of this group of folks.
Are you curious about what else we’ve noted about the market? Or, is your company struggling with how to address some of the challenges of recruiting in a tight market? Let’s chat! Call Weaver & Associates at 208-938-9726 or email Patti Perkins at patti@weaver-solutions.com or Angela Holbrook at angela@weaver-solutions.com.