Candidates have abandoned the job market. Before 2020, many were potentially open to discussion. Today, most show no interest in engaging with recruiters and don’t even bother responding to solicitations. While it’s true these individuals are likely over-solicited, this phenomenon is creating real recruitment difficulties.
Why are companies struggling so much to recruit their future talent?
“Many difficulties can be listed, namely talent shortages, lack of skills and experience, candidate lack of motivation, inconsistent recruitment processes, unattractive compensation, difficult working conditions, unappealing positions, candidate ghosting…” Let’s break it down.
An absence of candidates.
There has been talk of a candidate shortage across all sectors for several months now. Candidates are scarce and recruitment processes take considerably longer. “Only 4% of recruitment firms report not suffering from a talent shortage”.
The advice: make your employer brand attractive. Communicate about your CSR projects and your company’s ambitions. Obtain labels that highlight employee well-being. In short, promote your company to attract the few candidates who are actively seeking opportunities in the market.
Candidates are no longer as available as they once were…
It’s true that remote work makes video availability more straightforward. However, recruiting through screen-based interactions isn’t always easy. Moreover, we’ve noticed that video exchanges don’t really engage candidates in a recruitment process.
And when it comes to finding time slots to schedule in-person meetings, it becomes much more complicated. Various reasons explain this lack of availability: overscheduled work calendars, significant geographical distance, the habit of video conferencing causing reluctance to travel, and so on. In short, these reasons—legitimate or otherwise—sometimes measure a candidate’s genuine motivation to meet recruiters in person.
The advice: aside from working on your company’s attractiveness, it’s difficult to influence a candidate’s motivation. So focus on building your brand image to create engagement with candidates who may be somewhat interested but will be won over by your company’s communication.
…, and no longer want to make compromises…
“When salary negotiations come up, employees don’t focus solely on compensation. 19% prioritize working conditions, 15% prioritize remote work days”.
Today, candidates won’t change jobs unless offered a complete package of benefits: competitive salary, remote work options, flexible hours, and other perks (company car, phone, laptop). Sometimes they’ll overlook a dream opportunity for professional growth because they won’t compromise on company benefits. “Nowadays, remote work has become a work mode synonymous with freedom for many candidates who are unwilling to give it up, even if it means quitting or rejecting a job offer if the company doesn’t offer this alternative”. Comfort and personal organization have a real influence on career change decisions.
The advice: offer benefits that are easy to implement. For example, remote work, which is one of the main candidate demands, isn’t difficult to provide given that employees and technology have adapted to this organizational model.
…And employers aren’t either.
According to a Dares study, “employers’ insufficient efforts to adapt to candidates’ wishes would have more impact than skills mismatch in explaining this phenomenon”.
Today, employers aren’t actively listening to the candidates they meet. They fail to meet the expectations of the talent they want to recruit, risking losing them: below-market compensation offers, no remote work options, lack of work flexibility, and so on.
“Rising costs are hitting candidates hard, and employers are increasingly struggling to recruit: the compensation question is therefore crucial for 56% of them”.
Employers are also losing excellent candidates due to slow recruitment processes. They don’t make themselves available to meet with candidates. But an active job seeker can’t afford to wait several weeks before meeting their potential employer—they’ll continue their other applications and eventually accept another offer.
The advice: be as available as possible during a recruitment process and listen to the expectations of the talent you want to hire. Otherwise, you risk missing out on good candidates and extending the time needed to fill the position.
All of these difficulties make recruitment complicated. It’s hard to anticipate the coming months or predict whether this phenomenon will ease or persist. We’ll check back in a few months.
Sources and citations:
https://www.helloworkplace.fr/difficultes-recrutement-competences/
https://www.journaldeleconomie.fr/Les-salaries-veulent-une-augmentation-de-85_a11337.html
https://www.consultor.fr/articles/guerre-des-talents-les-cabinets-de-conseil-en-strat-s-adaptent
https://www.lavieeco.com/carriere-rh/comment-sen-sortir-face-aux-difficultes-de-recrutement/