Employers Nudge Hiring, Learning Practices to Suit the Times

Pressured by continuing challenges in recruiting, hiring and retaining their workers, employers are rethinking how they approach the institution of work.

According to the technology trade association CompTIA, 73% of HR professionals believe hiring will become more challenging over the next 12 months. Two-thirds believe that persistent roadblocks may become the new normal in hiring.

CompTIA published the figures in its annual “Workforce and Learning Trends” report.

“Hiring and talent development practices that worked a decade ago are no longer adequate in an era of digital transformation and rapid innovation,” said CompTIA President and CEO Todd Thibodeaux. Companies need to carefully examine how they’re preparing, recruiting and retaining employees, he said. That includes making sure educational models keep pace with new skills requirements, modernizing outdated evaluation and hiring criteria, recruiting from the full talent pool and putting people in a position to make the best use of their skills and talents.

What’s Shaping Workforce Needs

CompTIA identified five areas shaping the workforce and learning landscape:

• Employers and workers are negotiating a resetting of expectations on both sides
• Talent pipeline deficiencies highlight the need for human infrastructure investment
• More employers drop four-year degree requirement in favor of skills-based hiring
• The need to crack the code of soft skills with new approaches
• HR is working to balance data-driven and people-driven approaches to talent management

Given these trends, HR executives expect to give close attention to reskilling and upskilling their current employees. More than six in 10 believe increasing the skills of existing workers will offset the need for outside hiring and aid the organization’s retention strategy.

And, indeed, the adoption of skills-based hiring practices continues to trend upward. Support for eliminating or relaxing four-year degree requirements increased from 76% in 2021 to 85% this year, for example. CompTIA said this could contribute to less “overspecing,” or specifying more skills and credentials than are necessary to fill a particular job. When that happens, employers produce job descriptions that few, if any, candidates are qualified for.

For IT hiring, 76% of respondents say professional certifications are a factor in their decision-making. Some 47% expect the importance of certifications as a candidate evaluation tool to increase. And, 45% of organizations report using a skills framework to provide structure to the recruitment and development of their tech workforces. Another 36% are exploring the idea.

Finally, two-thirds of HR professionals expect to place greater emphasis on soft skills in the future. Among the reasons: developing well-rounded employees with more growth potential, creating an environment of innovation and collaborative problem-solving, and building a strong, healthy corporate culture

By Mark Feffer

Mark Feffer is executive editor of RecruitingDaily and the HCM Technology Report. He’s written for TechTarget, HR Magazine, SHRM, Dice Insights, TLNT.com and TalentCulture, as well as Dow Jones, Bloomberg and Staffing Industry Analysts. He likes schnauzers, sailing and Kentucky-distilled beverages.