A shift to data and fact-based decisions in recruiting and hiring will put considerations of education and years of professional experience in the background, and make recruiters true change-makers in their organisations in the evolving future of work, according to a recent report from LinkedIn.

The report, ‘The Future of Recruiting 2023’, offers 17 predictions based on interviews with global talent leaders, surveys of thousands of recruiting professionals around the world and analysis of “millions” of data points generated on Linked In. The strapline says, “You can’t foresee the future – but you can help create it.”

In addition to having the proverbial ‘seat at the table’ of leadership, recruiting leaders “have the opportunity to actually change the seats at the table. You’re going to truly change the table itself”, the report quotes Brett Baumoel, vice president of global talent acquisition (TA), engineering, at Microsoft as saying.

As recruiting becomes more strategic, 65% of TA professionals agree that the team can claim the seat and exert more influence at higher levels of their organisations.

“Recruiting professionals have never been able to make a bigger impact than right now,” Baumoel is quoted further. “Now you can say, I changed the make-up of our company, I changed where we work, I changed what we look for, and I changed how we hire.”

The 17 predictions are:

• Recruiting will be recognised for driving business- critical changes.
• Recruiting will have more say over pay. For now, the report says, only 40% of TA respondents to the LinkedIn surveys say salary increases within their organisations are enough to keep pace with inflation.
• Recruiting will double down on employer branding as talent retains its leverage in the labour market. In the report, 55% of respondents say their recruiting budgets will drop or stay flat this year. However, 59% say investment in employer branding will increase this year. “Your employer brand has to be more than a talking point used for pitching candidates – it has to become a real operating principle for your business,” said Stephen Lochhead, senior vice president of global TA at Expedia, according to the report.
• Recruiters will need a more strategic set of soft skills. The top five identified by respondents are: communications, relationship building, adaptability, collaboration and problem solving.
• Recruiting will collaborate more with learning and development (L&D).
• Generative AI, tools that intelligently generate content, will let recruiters focus on the human part of hiring.
• Despite hiring headwinds, employers will remain committed to building a diverse workforce. According to the report, 79% of respondents said the uncertain economy was not lowering priority for diversity, equality and inclusion.
• Employers will hire more contract workers as a hedge against uncertainty.
• Companies will keep a closer eye on what candidates want most. The fastest-growing ‘wants’ are: happy and inspired employees, flexible work, supportive management, a collaborative company culture, flexible working, shared values, compensation, job security, work-life balance.Recruiting professionals will recalibrate their pitches to candidates.
• Gen Z will reward employers who value development and diversity.
• Skills-first hiring will become the gold standard. “Skills-first hiring is poised to be the way of the future,” the report says. “Recruiters have been trained to copy and paste a job description so they can hire really, really fast,” said Jennifer Paylor, vice president, global talent innovation and skills transformation at Capgemini. “They’re not really looking at what the work requires and what skills are needed. That’s starting to change.”
• Skills-first hiring strategies will shine a light on overlooked talent.
• Companies will focus on mapping the skills employees have (and need). The report said: “A whopping 91% of recruiting professionals told us that understanding employee skills is required to make informed talent decisions.”
• “Business leaders will recognise the value of filling open roles with home-grown talent.” LinkedIn data shows that employees stay at organisations almost two-times longer if the employer is highly committed to internal hiring. The report also suggests the “growing probability” recruiters will be adding internal mobility to their responsibilities. Upskilling will be a key tool for retaining a diverse workforce.
• Learning will be a compelling drive for candidates, not just employees.

As part of ‘The Future of Recruiting 2023’ report, regional editions are available for a variety of countries and areas, including the UK. Industry-specific reports are available for healthcare and staffing.

DeeDee Doke, Editor

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