But, almost three years later, the global pandemic’s lingering effects continue to impact the job market. Enter long Covid.

According to the Brookings Institute, about 16 million working-age Americans suffer from long Covid, with anywhere from two to four million out of work because of Covid’s lingering symptoms. The cost to these employees? Lost wages ranging from $170 billion to $230 billion annually, creating a “meaningful drag on U.S. economic performance and household financial health.”

Add to that:

• 260,000 working-age adults that have been lost to Covid
• The slowdown of immigration, costing another three million workers
• Baby Boomer retirements
• Lower birth rates

And, the job market just received another gut punch, along with suffering from its own lingering, seemingly incurable viral symptoms.

Long Covid and the Job Market:  Going Hand in Hand

In the U.S. alone, the coronavirus infected almost 102 million people, putting the brakes on the economy. However, doctors and scientists (and economists) thought that once people started feeling better, they’d get back to work.

A reasonable assumption, no doubt.

However, this hasn’t exactly happened.  Much like long Covid itself, the job market just can’t shake this sick feeling.

U.S. job openings are holding pretty steady at just over 10 million jobs (e.g., 10.3 million in October 2022 and 10.5 million in November 2022), just under the record high of 11 million job openings in 2021 and early 2022. But, where are the workers?

Well, some employees are being laid off by America’s largest companies, such as Amazon, Meta, Twitter, and Peloton. But, employees are quitting their jobs in droves as well – with quits exceeding “the pre-pandemic high for 21 consecutive months, as more than 4 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in each of the past 18 months.”

In 2022 alone, 46.6 million employees voluntarily quit their jobs.

That’s shocking, to say the least, but the tides have turned. Employees are no longer willing to put up with inflexible, unfair working conditions, causing both workers and companies to re-evaluate the employer-employee relationship.

From the Great Resignation to the Great Reshuffle to the Great Layoffs, the job market is still trying to figure out how to heal itself, getting back to “normal.”

But is there a getting back to normal?  Or just learning to live with long Covid?

Looking for a Cure (or just a way to stop the bleeding)

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “[i]f every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have 4 million open jobs.” Wow-za.

How do you solve that?  What’s the cure?

We are definitely living in unprecedented times – but is it a crisis?  According to HR expert Josh Bersin, yes – almost.

Last fall, Bersin said:

[Q]uite simply, we cannot “manufacture more people” in a flash. We can solve the global supply chain problem by building a factory, buying a ship, or scaling up a distribution center. People don’t work that way. We need to educate them, train them, and coach them to perform at work. And as all the data now shows, when you “push” people too hard, they just quit, check out, or change careers.

The cure? Treat people like an asset, according to Bersin. Perhaps easier said than done…

The post Lingering Symptoms & Long Covid: The Job Market Continues to Struggle With its Own Chronic Illness appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

So Hot.

Historically speaking, talent has existed on every corner of the globe while jobs stayed local. You know this. But we’ve flipped the narrative.

Now we have planet-sized talent pools to fill jobs anywhere. And, if Google Image Search is right, we’re all doing it from beautiful mountain-side cabins with bottomless lattes and a view of the sunset.

Sounds pretty sweet, huh?

Sure. But also a little bit confusing and terrifying.

Working remotely isn’t necessarily a natural skill set, but with all environmental changes, adaptation is essential to growth.  Most of us must learn how to maintain relationships and manage our physical environments in new ways if we want to be successful.

If you’re looking for tips and tricks on how to maximize productivity in a remote setting, Shally Steckerl has that in spades.

Watch this session to learn how to balance your remote work mojitos on the beach with configuring and directing an ultimate remote-sourcing team. 

And make sure to download the asset for bonus materials & gear recommendations.

You’ll leave with:

• The top five benefits to building a remote sourcing team
• Strategies for attracting, engaging, and retaining top sourcers
• Tips and tricks on how to maximize sourcing productivity in a remote setting
• Bonus gear & information

The world has changed. So has sourcing.

Listen, working from home isn’t always easy. But it can be incredibly rewarding and has opened up a universe of opportunities for talent and employers alike.

With intention and dedication, you can evolve your skillset and build a sourcing team hotter than the pajama pants you wear during your Friday morning team calls.

The post The Ultimate Configuration of Your Remote Sourcing Team appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

So Hot.

Historically speaking, talent has existed on every corner of the globe while jobs stayed local. You know this. But we’ve flipped the narrative.

Now we have planet-sized talent pools to fill jobs anywhere. And, if Google Image Search is right, we’re all doing it from beautiful mountain-side cabins with bottomless lattes and a view of the sunset.

Sounds pretty sweet, huh?

Sure. But also a little bit confusing and terrifying.

Working remotely isn’t necessarily a natural skillset, but with all environmental changes, adaptation is essential to growth.  Most of us must learn how to maintain relationships and manage our physical environments in new ways if we want to be successful.

If you’re looking for tips and tricks on how to maximize productivity in a remote setting, Shally Steckerl has that in spades.

He’ll join us on November 1st to teach you how to balance your remote work mojitos on the beach with configuring and directing an ultimate remote sourcing team. 

In this session, attendees will leave with:

• The top five benefits to building a remote sourcing team
• Strategies for attracting, engaging, and retaining top sourcers
• Tips and tricks on how to maximize sourcing productivity in a remote setting

The world has changed. So has sourcing.

Listen, working from home isn’t always easy. But it can be incredibly rewarding and has opened up a universe of opportunity for talent and employers alike.

With intention and dedication, you can evolve your skillset and build a sourcing team hotter than the pajama pants you wear during your Friday morning team calls.

See you there?

Cool.

Can’t make the live event? No worries! Register now, and we’ll send you a copy of the recording and all materials after the training.

The post The Ultimate Configuration of Your Remote Sourcing Team appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

The London-based advisory services firm warned against the results of business leaders who don’t put in more effort to understand the needs of their workers and demonstrate that they truly care about their holistic wellbeing, said the report, titled “The C-suite’s role in well-being.” It also examines why the overall poor state of both workers’ and executives’ health is making retention more difficult.

Workers and Executives Are Struggling

According to the report, employees and executive-level business leaders are struggling to prioritize their. their well-being—and for most people, work is to blame for their inability to find an equilibrium in their work-life balance. In fact, 57% of workers and almost 70% of executives say they are “seriously considering” quitting their jobs for another one that better supports the idea of well-being.

“Significantly, 63% of employees and 73% of the C-suite report that their job doesn’t allow them to take time off from work and disconnect,” Deloitte said. “Results also show that for 68% of employees and 81% of the C-suite, improving their well-being is more important to them than advancing their career right now.”

Ironically, despite admitting their  wellbeing struggles, executives are significantly overestimating how well their employees feel, the report said.

Shadow of the Pandemic

Deloitte said, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s health. Yet, most executives have not realized how much their employees are struggling.

The report points out that around one in three workers and executives “always” or “often” feel exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed, lonely or depressed. “Despite this, only around half of employees and two-thirds of the C-suite report that they use all their vacation time, take breaks during the day, get enough sleep and have enough time for friends and family,” the study observed.

Health-Savvy Business Leaders

The report also said only 31% of employees feel that their leaders are “health-savvy.” While 95% of executives agree that they should be responsible for the wellbeing of their workforce, 68% admit they’re not doing enough.

To reverse the possible consequences of ignoring employees’ wellbeing, the report argues that C-suite leaders must “take greater ownership and action,” around healthcare matters. “Despite work often working against wellbeing, leaders who are health-savvy have the ability to reimagine wellbeing for themselves and their workforce — but they need to do more,” the report said.

Jen Fisher, Deloitte’s U.S. chief wellbeing officer, said business leaders becoming health-savvy will not only benefit their wellbeing and that of their employees, but also contribute to “the long-term success of their organizations.

“It’s time for the C-suite to become more health-savvy by embracing the expanding focus on well-being in their role,” she said.

The post C-Suite’s Disconnect from Workers’ Wellbeing Pressures Retention appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Deloitte’s survey highlights the major causes of employee burnout, including lack of support or recognition from leadership (31%), unrealistic deadlines or results expectations (30%) and consistently working long hours or on weekends (29%)

The risk of employee burnout is especially high at companies that have had to slow down or freeze their hiring— and, in some cases, lay off workers. During a hiring slowdown, employees may experience pressure to build products and deliver services at the same pace as before, but with a leaner team and tighter budget. Together, these factors can easily lead to burnout.

Staying the Course through Economic Downturns 

Rising inflation and subsequent higher interest rates in the first half of 2022 have led to what some journalists are calling “the great tech hiring slowdown.” Tech titans like Meta and DoorDash have slowed their headcount growth, and others (Cameo, Robinhood) have announced large-scale layoffs. While the unemployment rate for tech workers remains low, economic downturns can cause stress and panic among employees; these, in turn, can lead to overwork and burnout.

Your company’s ability to weather economic downturns depends on your employees’ ability to rise to the challenge— without burning out. So how can you manage this turbulent time while maintaining employee wellbeing and motivation? Let’s discuss strategies to prevent your engineering teams from burning out during an economic downturn. 

Preventing Burnout on Resource-Constrained Teams 

Empowering Your Employees with the Right Tech

Using the right technology is one of the best ways to combat stress resulting from repetitive manual tasks. Imagine being a recruiter and having to go through hundreds of applications to find a developer. It doesn’t make sense, especially when tools are available to make these tasks easier. Any administrative task that is repetitive and cumbersome can now be automated with the right set of tools. 

For instance, while hiring at scale for software engineering roles, a comprehensive technical interview and assessment platform like CodeSignal allows you to evaluate a high volume of candidates at the top of the funnel while reducing engineering hours spent conducting interviews—crucial for engineering teams who are under pressure to do more with less. 

Talent acquisition professionals and technical recruiters spend weeks sourcing, screening and assessing candidates. With a platform like CodeSignal, you can optimize the process by using pre-screen assessments and live technical interview solutions that use research-backed coding questions. This way, you only move forward the best candidates for later-stage interviews. 

Pre-Screen is a technical skills evaluation tool that helps you perform the top-of-the-funnel screening. It automatically evaluates the candidate’s submission and assigns them a Coding Score, a metric that allows you to understand the candidate’s level of skill objectively.  Codesignal Pre-Screen also records each session, allowing for easy sharing with the recruiting team.

Since the Coding Score is calculated using CodeSignal’s machine learning algorithm, you don’t need your engineers to score the assessment results manually. This also means the Coding Score is free from human bias, helping you avoid interviewer biases that often affect traditional hiring processes. This helps you achieve your team’s goals around diversity and inclusion. 

For hiring more experienced software engineers, CodeSignal also offers Tech Screen–-a technical phone screen replacement that gives time back to engineers while providing a white-glove candidate experience. And for virtual on-site interviews with your engineering teams, Interview is a powerful, all-in-one interviewing tool that includes an integrated, collaborative coding environment, HD audio, video calling, extensive language support and more.

A comprehensive tool like CodeSignal goes a long way toward optimizing your hiring process and setting up hiring teams to be successful after weathering a hiring slowdown. It takes over the administrative tasks, streamlines hiring processes and allows for more objective and data-driven decision-making.

Most importantly, it leaves time for the hiring managers and talent acquisition leaders to build relationships with candidates. Regardless of tech advancements in hiring, candidate interactions are crucial to securing a “yes” from top candidates These interactions help create rapport and understand the cultural fit of your candidates. 

Encourage Flexibility and Taking Breaks 

High-stress work situations are common during periods of economic uncertainty and can disrupt employees’ work-life balance, making it hard for them to relax and rest. Introducing flexibility in your work culture can help combat this. Allowing your employees more control over their schedule and work decisions can be empowering, and may motivate them to put their best foot forward.

Flexibility also allows employees to take a step back when work gets too much. Workflow automation technologies allow employees to work remotely and collaborate across teams without compromising quality. 

Similarly, encouraging your teams to rest will positively affect their mental health. When work pressure increases, it is easy to feel that staying overtime by an hour or two will help achieve the goals. However, that is not always the case.

Productivity takes a hit when employees go beyond the 40-hour mark. In addition, there is no glory in overworking or the constant hustle without taking breaks. Breaks are essential to helping employees do their best work.

Design Policies to Support Mental Health

The mental health impact of COVID-19 continues to influence the work lives of professionals across industries. Workplaces have had to update their policies to support the mental health of their employees. Support can be tangible—like investing in better tools, mental health days, paid vacation, childcare or eldercare support.. 

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are designed to help employees deal with stress in their personal and professional lives. You can proactively address and eventually avoid burnout with an EAP. These also show your employees that mental health is a priority for your company and that support is available when needed. 

Conclusion

Economic downturns can quickly become toxic for employee morale if not managed appropriately and can trigger burnout amongst your teams. However, it is possible to manage and reduce burnout with technology. A comprehensive technical assessment tool like CodeSignal can streamline and optimize the tech hiring process. This helps reduce the burden on hiring managers and engineers, empowering teams to do more with less.

The post How to Prevent Burnout on Resource-Constrained Teams appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

According to Legion Technologies’ 2022 State of the Hourly Workforce Report, employers showed an Employee Net Promoter Score, which determines loyalty and satisfaction on a -100 to 100 scale, of -7 among hourly workers.

The report from Legion, which provides a workforce management platform, found that 57.6% of hourly employees have no plans to leave their positions in the next 12 months. However, 75% of those who do plan to look for a job immediately or within the next year are younger employees (aged 18-24) who make up one of the fastest growing segments of the 73.3 million hourly workers and managers across the country.

Hourly workers want their companies to offer more flexible schedules and autonomy, with 85% of them saying it’s important to have control of their schedule. This preference is most prominent among the younger generations entering the workforce. Meantime, hourly workers aged 18-24 are five times more likely to have a primary job and a side gig job than older age groups because they don’t have enough money to cover food and the cost of rent.

What Hourly Workers Want

Besides pay, greater recognition and rewards are the incentives most likely to persuade hourly employees to leave an existing position and take a new job (58.3%), followed by the flexibility to pick up extra shifts and swap shifts (56.3%). Managers, specifically, agree with the latter: besides pay, 63% of managers find control and input into work schedules as the greatest incentive for prospective employees they interview, followed by greater transparency into shift assignments and hours given (52.4%).

“To attract and retain hourly employees, employers must invest in workforce incentives and technologies that offer schedule flexibility and control, as well as improve communication and strengthen financial health by providing instant access to earned wages,” said Legion CEO Sanish Mondkar. “Employers risk losing top talent to companies that show their hourly employees they are valued by providing them with the benefits they want and need.”

More findings from the hourly workers include:

• Hourly employees value pay autonomy, with nearly 75% saying they’d be most motivated to pick up extra shifts by being paid a premium.
• Some 64% of females who hold more than one job do so because they don’t make enough money to cover rent and food, compared to 49.2% of males
• More than 80% of 18-24 year-olds said it would be important to very important to get paid early if they needed the money versus nearly 39% of respondents ages 55-64

Key manager findings include:

• About 42% of managers said managing call-outs and no-shows takes the most time and effort, a 7% increase from last year’s findings.
• Other than pay, 39% of managers believe their employer could improve their experience by providing tools that make it easier to communicate with their team.
• Managers overwhelmingly agree (84%) that efficiency and productivity would improve if they were able to communicate with employees through the same app that they use to view their schedules.

“If companies expect to improve employee attrition in today’s increasingly uncertain economic climate, they need to stop overlooking the hourly manager and employee experience to ensure recent gains are not lost,” said Mondkar.

The post ‘Great Resignation’ Slowing, But Hourly Employees Remain Unhappy appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

To prepare, startups need to begin cutting costs, said Bilal Zuberi, a partner at the venture capital firm Lux Capital. That, in turn, will lead to job cuts. “The world is falling apart,” he said, “and we need to act accordingly.”

The decade-long bull market stimulated by the tech industry’s rise eventually saw indications that the good times were ending. A 2020 note from Sequoia Capital headlined “Coronavirus: The Black Swan of 2020” cautions startups to doubt aspects of their business, including the number of employees on staff and whether capital will be available to them in the long term. “Nobody ever regrets making fast and decisive adjustments to changing circumstances,” it said.

After an initial panic in the spring of 2020, many tech companies prospered in the pandemic era, when low interest rates, soaring markets and changing consumer behavior balanced issues caused by COVID-19.

Still, “[I]nvestor sentiment in Silicon Valley is the most negative since the dot-com crash” tweeted David Sacks, co-founder of PayPal and now a partner at the investment firm Craft Ventures. The dot-com crash was over 20 years ago.

While market changes even out for investors and founders, thousands of tech workers have lost their jobs. Venture-backed startups including delivery-only restaurant company Reef Technology, grocery delivery business Avo and AI company DataRobot cut more than 7,500 positions across the board from April 1 to May 16, according to figures from employment tracker Layoffs.fyi.

Meanwhile, public companies have also cut jobs, instituted hiring freezes or both.

The post Tech Industry Job Market Drops After Decade-Long Immunity appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Okay, let’s try that again. Work-related, what’s keeping you up at night?

That’s better.

Three industry leaders, Tariq Meyers Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Untapped, Steven O’Brien, Strategic Talent Acquisition, Clinical Research at Syneos Health, and William Tincup, President at Recruiting Daily, collaboratively examine the market from their perspectives—and unravel how you may be caught off guard.

The post You’re About to Be Caught Off Guard appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

In a study conducted by CITE Research for talent mobility company Topia, Adapt to Work Everywhere, 29% of those who changed jobs in 2021, and 34% of those who plan to this year, said employers’ lack of flexibility was a major factor in their decision-making. At the same time, 64% of those required to return to their offices full-time said the requirement makes them more likely begin job-hunting.

The study “suggests that if companies say no to flexible work arrangements, they will lose talented people and struggle to replace them,” said Steve Black, Topia’s co-founder and chief strategy officer.

Demanding Flexible Work

Despite the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. and UK, the study found little interest among employees in returning to their physical offices. Public health, originally the impetus for remote work, is no longer relevant. Instead the freedom, technology and autonomy to work from anywhere has become central to the ideal employee experience.

In fact, a whopping 96% of surveyed employees said that flexibility in working arrangements is important when seeking a new job. Meanwhile, 56% say having the option to work wherever they want defines an “exceptional employee experience.”

Compliance is one reason employers are hesitant to adopt flexible work policies. Specifically, they’re concerned about the inability of HR managers to determine where employees are working and for how long. “In 2021, 60% of HR professionals were confident they knew where most of their employees were located. That number fell to 46% in 2022,” the study said.

Black believes that automating back-end compliance can help address concerns related to employees who work remotely and frequently change locations.

“To provide an exceptional employee experience, organizations need technology that welcomes employees to explore, request and pursue remote work opportunities,” he said.

The post More Evidence Lack of Flexibility Drives the Great Resignation appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

According to the iCIMS 2022 Workforce Report, 90% of business leaders believe a skilled workforce is important to their efforts, while more than 80% said they’ve been negatively impacted by the mass of workers leaving their jobs as part of “the Great Resignation.”

An accompanying survey found that only 11% of American adults believe their employer was not short-staffed last year because of pandemic-related labor shortages.

Among the report’s key findings:

• The gap between talent supply and demand is growing. At the close of 2021, there was a 97-point gap between job openings and job applications, the widest seen in the previous two years. iCIMS data shows that job openings are up 86%, while hires are up 45% and job applications are down 11% from pre-pandemic levels.
• Salaries will continue to increase. C-level business leaders said their organizations plan to increase salaries by about 7% on average this year to incentivize retention. Nearly a third plan to increase salaries by more than 10%. The consumer survey found that people will also stay with their current employer for benefits, flexible schedules and professional growth opportunities.
• Flexible workforce is here to stay. As competition for labor intensifies, so does the expectation of flexibility for work location and schedules. In 2021’s fourth quarter, one in five applications were from out-of-state. Some of the most common moves include offering flexible daily work schedules (43%) and offering remote work options to distant (38%) and local employees (36%).

In addition to talent shortages, employers are struggling to keep up with expectations surrounding DEI, retention and internal mobility, iCIMS said.

Missing Expectations

Among the issues:

• Failing to keep DEI at the top of the list. Over the last few years, many business leaders pledged to increase the diversity of their workforce. But in the current job market, DEI often falls down on the priority list. Most HR professionals (70%) expressed concern that their organization’s HR technology isn’t helping them meet their DEI goals. Meanwhile, 85% of CxOs said they struggle to prioritize DEI goals against competing HR and recruiting needs.
• Retention is a challenge, but still not top priority. Nearly two out of three CxOs are putting greater emphasis on hiring talent over retaining existing employees. In the past year, only 29% of HR professionals have prioritized internal mobility, the report found. That represents a missed opportunity for most employers, since companies that prioritize career pathing are seeing a positive impact.

The report also found that the staffing plans of 57% of companies project no further than a quarter out.

The post Executives Expect to Miss Goals if Quits, Hiring Challenges Continue appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Micro-experiences have changed because the world has changed. Talent has changed. It’s time to update our playbook on the experiences we offer candidates, employees, and alumni.

In this session, William Tincup, President at RecruitingDaily.com, went through the latest intricacies of the most important aspect of hiring: The personalization of your candidate’s experience.

Session highlights:

We’ve been through two years of COVID hell and learned a few things along the way.

• Hybrid and remote work are everyday conversations.
• ​​Candidates are scarce. They have all the power.
• ​​Your responsibility is to be their advocate and guide. Allow them to choose their own adventure.

Bottom line: ​​The candidate experience is a candidate-driven adventure.

Watch the video to learn more!

The post 21 Candidate Micro-Experiences You Need to Offer in 2022 appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

According to The Wall Street Journal, a Future Forum report said 95% of the workers surveyed want flexible hours, compared to 78% who want “location flexibility.” (The Future Forum is a consortium focused on reimagining the future of work, led by Slack.) To produce the report, the Forum surveyed more than 10,000 knowledge workers in November 2021.

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of the workers unhappy with the amount of flexibility they had were likely to look for new opportunities during 2022. “If they’re not getting what they want, they’re open to looking for a new job,” Future Forum Vice President Sheela Subramanian told the Journal.

Outdated Outlooks

More teams are coming to their own agreements about when they’ll work, Subramanian reported, adding that flexible schedules will probably last beyond the pandemic. Focusing on the number of hours worked is outdated, she said. Instead, employers should be focusing on the results workers produce and the value they create.

The share of people working in a hybrid situation – splitting their time between their office and a remote location like, say, their home – increased by 12 percentage points since May 2021.

But preparing for the future workplace involves more than adopting employers’ approach to office place and flexibility. A number of executives are concerned with what’s called “proximity bias,” which occurs when people who return to the office get ahead of workers who stay at home, Bloomberg said. At the same time, business leaders prefer working from the office and want their subordinates to do the same. More than 40% said potential inequities between remote and in-office employees was their top concern, according to the Future Forum’s report.

That sets up a tension with underrepresented groups. Women and minorities tend to prefer working from home rather than trekking to the office, the report said. “Companies have to understand that their diversity efforts and their future of work plans are going to be linked,” observed Slack Vice President and Future Forum leader Brian Elliott.

The post Workers Care More About Flexibility than Schlepping to the Office appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

In its report, What’s Next for the Great Resigners, the learning company Cengage Group found that while the Covid-19 pandemic put pressure on millions, its accompanying disruption provided workers with an opportunity to evaluate and assess their priorities and career options.

“Millions of workers are changing how they think about work, their purpose and the impact of their careers,” said Cengage Group CEO Michael E. Hansen.

That thinking is pushing great number of users into online courses. At LinkedIn, for example, more than 4.6 million professionals have watched the social network’s 20 most popular courses this year. Compared to 2021, hours spent learning increased 53%, the company said.

Moving On

A survey of 1,200 American adults who had quit their jobs during the previous six months or planned to quit at some point over the next six months found that burnout and pay were two driving forces behind the Great Resignation. Some 91% said they wanted to make more money, while 89% said they were burnt out or unsupported. Eighty-three percent while 83% felt they were no longer growing in their role.

Training offers a path to new opportunities, said Cengage Group (remember, they’re a learning company). At the time of the survey, 78% of the workers had completed or were enrolled in an online training course or certificate program, the report said. Such moves aren’t always inspired by a pure love of learning: 64% said having an online training program on their resume would be essential to landing a new job.

In part, many of these workers left their jobs because they felt their employer offered few chances for professional development. There  was also a feeling that they weren’t growing in their current positions.

And while good benefits (33%) and better pay (23%) were the most important attributes of these workers’ next roles, clear opportunities for professional growth was a factor for 22%.

The post Pay, Burnout Drive the Great Resignation, Survey Says appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Earlier this year, one in four women were considering leaving their careers entirely.

This creates a challenge and concern among employers today, as having a diverse team fosters productivity, increases employee engagement and boosts motivation.

So, how can businesses retain their female staff? How can they bring women back into the organization?

Moreover, what role does HR play? 

More Women Exited the Workforce

Why did more women than men exit the workforce during the pandemic? Three key drivers have led to more women leaving the labor force in the last 18+ months.

First, women predominantly hold roles that were hardest hit, such as hospitality, childcare and clerical jobs.

Second, schools shut down, giving many women a disproportionate load of childcare and virtual teaching responsibilities.

Lastly, existing salary discrepancies played a part, as women still earn less than men for the same job. The gender pay gap left women in two-income households with a dilemma.

It made the most financial sense to leave their jobs and focus on what needed to be taken care of at home, instead of outsourcing costly childcare. 

Women Continue to Feel Less Optimistic

Why do women continue to feel less optimistic about their career prospects? Despite some companies’ attempts to support employees throughout the pandemic, women felt exhausted, burned out and under pressure.

The crisis forced everyone to reevaluate their priorities. The pandemic prompted some women to leave their positions voluntarily — in an effort to lessen anxiety that comes with juggling home and work responsibilities.

Even with some COVID-related restrictions lifting, many women are not running to get back into the workforce. According to a recent survey, more than half of the women interviewed were not optimistic about the future of their careers.

History has shown that women are penalized for taking breaks. Whether to care for a new baby or explore new opportunities, women often come back to a lower paying job with less responsibilities.

Some families have made financial adjustments during the pandemic, such as moving and lowering their household expenses, and no longer need additional income to maintain their lifestyle. 

On the other hand, there is reason to believe that the dissatisfaction with their work prospects will inspire more women to strike out on their own and build a new wave of female-led businesses.

Such was the case during the Great Recession of 2007 and 2009 when women-owned businesses (who helped stabilize the economy during the recovery) were created out of a sense of necessity.

The unemployed are more inclined to start a business during a recession to avoid extended financial difficulties.

Turning the Exodus

How can corporate leaders turn this around? Businesses know that women are valuable in the workplace. An unwillingness to budge in meeting the needs of female workers will result in a loss of any momentum gained over the last decade in terms of diversity and inclusion.

In addition, turnover has the potential to cost businesses billions. Employers are struggling to find new workers as the “Great Resignation” has led to millions leaving their jobs. Without making some changes, more women will leave and building an inclusive workplace will be even more difficult.

There are several things that corporate leaders need to examine to turn this exodus around:

Meet the needs of working mothers

Flexible work schedules and the ability to work from home will increase women’s job retention. Leadership should determine if working mothers really need to have a solid 9:00 – 5:00 workday and if teamwork synergy and processes can be handled remotely. 

Evaluate pay structures

Companies need to continue to evaluate salaries and equity, and pay the same regardless of if a worker is in the office or remote. Time away from work should not equate to taking two steps back.

Implement empathy

Corporate leadership needs to understand each person’s unique perspective and respect it. Regardless of race or gender, in order to excel at retaining diverse and dynamic workforces.

Provide meaningful development opportunities

Businesses need to increase the developmental support of their workforce, finding ways to rescale their worker’s training and education. Giving the tools and a path to more satisfying careers results in greater retention and higher performance.

Instead of returning to pre-pandemic habits, companies must re-evaluate what makes sense in the future. Find ways to keep employees engaged and make sure they are supporting their work/life balance. 

Inspire Women to Return

What role might human resources departments play in developing work environments that inspire women to return?

Human resources departments play a pivotal role in facilitating the office culture. When it comes to women, HR should continue to encourage leadership to create flexible work schedules and work-from-home opportunities in order to retain top talent.

They need to train their leaders on active listening skills and assist with building productive teams that can function remotely.

Programs that recognize and reward female employees for their contributions and foster a culture that encourages women to share their opinions help create a workplace where all feel valued.

The cost of investing in active listening, empathy and workplace flexibility far outweighs the cost of recruiting.

However, hiring female employees is just as important as retaining them. Often, HR is the first point of contact that a prospective employee has.

From the language in job postings to the initial interview, to how the HR team conducts those interactions factors into candidates’ perceptions of the company. If a business implements a commitment to diversity in hiring, that will also speak volumes to potential female employees.  

Closing

It’s a crisis, but also an opportunity. Women have made substantial gains in representation, but COVID-19 magnified where work is still needed.

Adapting to the needs of the female staff helps reverse the loss caused by COVID-19’s resulting gender inequality. There are tremendous advantages for organizations in terms of hiring, costs and reaching diversity and inclusion goals.

If organizations want to retain their talent and bring women back into the workplace, they must accept and embrace this new normal.

The post How Can HR Support Women After COVID-19? appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

The difference between a budget vacation and a luxury stay is not just cost. What really elevates that experience are those little, personalized extra amenities and perks.

• Complementary beverage service on the beach.
• Full size luxury bathroom amenities.
• A personal butler or chef for your stay.
• Fresh flowers in your room.
• Loaner workout gear — so you can hit the gym or go for a run without the hassle of packing all those extra items.

Each of these unique touches can truly elevate your stay — and at the same time creates brand loyalty.

Before you take off to go book a week in Cabo, let’s pull this back to helping you with your overall candidate experience…

Throughout your recruitment process, you have brief opportunities to dazzle your candidates and strengthen the relationship.

These opportunities are “micro-moments” or “micro-experiences.”

Once a candidate is in your recruiting funnel — once they take action and apply for a job — there are opportunities for you to make each micro-experience personalized, special, and memorable.

It’s up to us to elevate our candidate experience into something more personal.

To convert candidates from passive or engaged talent into your new hire.

But how? You treat them like a VIP.

Covid Changed Everything

Turns out, the devil’s in the details.

Hiring is personal. Whether it’s in person, hybrid, or remote, candidates focus on how they are treated. We can’t ignore the moments in their journey that can sway their perceptions of your organization.

Your best hiring strategy can still feel cold and impersonal to the candidate, especially when hiring remote talent.

The micro-experiences necessary in a pre-Covid world may no longer apply. (in our mid/post/whatever this is COVID world.)

We’ve gotten better, but in the time of “now” we need to really refocus. Stocking your fridge with a candidate’s favorite soda no longer applies if you’re interviewing remotely.

There’s a New Playbook for 2022

Micro-experiences have changed because the world has changed. Talent has changed. It’s time to update our playbook on the experiences we offer candidates, employees, and alumni.

In this session, William Tincup, President at RecruitingDaily.com, will dissect and discuss the latest intricacies of the most important aspect of hiring: the personalization of your candidate’s experience.

We’ll follow a typical candidate journey and point out specific advice on how to enhance each step of the process and create a micro-experience that will matter to the candidate.

We’ll focus on the new collection of experiences you need to offer, given what we know now.

You’ll walk away with 21 (at least) micro-experiences that you need to offer in 2022.

Cool? Thought so.

See you there!

The post 21 Candidate Micro-Experiences You Need to Offer in 2022 appeared first on RecruitingDaily.