Similar to other industries, 2020 caught even the best staffing agencies Austin, TX, by surprise. Although the predictions made in 2019 were based on vetted sources, nobody saw a global pandemic coming. Today, the job market is yet to recover from the fall it took due to the pandemic, and we are getting ready for another year. Maybe 2022 will be much easier than 2021. The rising unemployment worldwide makes finding, hiring, and retaining talent a growing challenge for most employers. Here are some staffing challenges heading that we expect in 2022.
1. Talent Shortage Staffing Challenges Heading
This challenge has been one of the most discussed topics in the past few years. Most companies have a challenge filling up positions, which in turn leads to revenue loss. Moreover, About 73% of firms cited talent shortage as one of the most significant areas of concern this year. With most of the best talents already employed, employers must look beyond people who are actively applying for jobs and use cold outreach to find talented candidates already working.
Firms use one strategy to ensure they have the best talent by reskilling or updating workers’ skills through education and training.
2. Embracing Digital Transformation
Digitalization has been a significant theme in the past few years. However, it presents some barriers for companies since they adopted it as a strategic competitive advantage. So, about 49% of staffing agencies cited digital transformation as their top challenge. Most firms find it a challenge because they find it challenging to integrate automation and artificial intelligence into their recruiting strategies.
While automation is here to help alleviate administrative and low-level tasks, artificial intelligence is not there yet. Moreover, only humans have the precise empathy to match and advance conversations that yield stronger relationships with candidates and clients.
3. Slow Hiring Process
A slow hiring process can make the best candidate check out and move on. Studies show that the average hiring process in the US is around 24 days. So big staffing challenges. Some companies may have shorter or longer processes. If a company’s average hiring process is longer than the industry average, that company will turn off candidates. The candidate may not feel valued, become disinterested, and be approachable by a competitor. An ideal way to keep candidates interested is to be transparent about the timelines.
4. Getting Employers to Increase Pay
Today, more are quitting jobs at high rates, and minimum-wage rates are increasing to match cost-of-living hikes. This means that staffing firms might work with employers to increase compensation ranges for open roles to attract talent. Most staffing firms believe that getting employers to raise pay is a top hiring challenge. Some firms are not ready to increase employee pay since they do not have the budget.
5. High Competition Staffing Challenges Heading
Fewer candidates translate to more competition. Companies must make their offering more attractive than their competitors. Not just in financial compensation, but also in other things. Studies suggest that non-monetary job benefits are the primary things that boost job happiness. About 14% of employees prioritize more training and learning opportunities. So, contribution, autonomy, and meaning are other essential workplace qualities.
These are some of the challenges staffing agencies expect in 2022. Finding creative ways to tackle these challenges will be a primary factor for staffing agencies to reach their goals.