Working as a recruiter for 30 years, I have seen everything from no jobs to no candidates, and everything in between. Now, with single family slowing and multifamily still strong, what do I expect recruiting will look like in 2023? Competitive yet manageable, especially if you understand the market realities.
I have candidates who are looking for the right job, and employers looking for candidates. The problem in 2022 was sealing the deal without blowing up your compensation standards for everyone. In 2022 for single-family truss designers, we had a lot more jobs than candidates, so they could push for more money, more benefits, and more flexibility to find their work-life balance. Work-life balance I think defined 2022, especially for younger candidates with kids who saw a need to have more flex time to manage their family needs. It’s not like back in the day when many of us had a mom at home and dad working. Now both parents work, if they can find day care. Obligations like taking children to the doctor, school meetings, and other things that a stay-at-home parent could manage are now taking time away from work, unless there are other options from employers to being flexible.
Time changes how we do business and how we think of the employer/employee relationship. It’s not the 1970s, or even the 1990s. The generation that grew up during the Great Recession is less likely to be looking for a long-term job relationship unless the company provides them with an ability to find work-life balance. Flexible hours, hybrid remote, even full remote are options that are now mainstream. Most employers, good employers that is, will see that making their employees’ life less stressful both at work and at home will pay off. I have clients who help with day care because it is THE issue in their area. This help can be having their HR department pre-screen local providers to provide a list for employees and then some go the extra mile and subsidize day care by paying part of the cost. When you think of how many of your employees have kids that need day care, adding a day care segment to your benefits plan can be THAT difference for a prospective candidate.
The real answer to “what does it takes to hire good candidates” is “a great employer.” Look at your people and see what their challenges are, both at work and at home, and make it a little easier for them to balance demands that pull them in all directions. Are meetings too distracting, too frequent, taking time from productive work, or does an employee need to pick kids up from school and be home for part of the day? As long as the work gets done on time and within budget what can you offer? Maybe you will see a solution that makes you that employer who always gets good people.