The talent shortage is now the top hiring challenge, according to the Glassdoor Recruiting Outlook Survey. Nearly half, 48%, of hiring decision-makers don’t see enough qualified candidates for open positions and a quarter, 26%, see the situation getting harder in the next 12 months as the US economy picks up.

“As the economy has improved there has been a shift of power from employer to job seeker and the Glassdoor Recruiting Outlook Report highlights a clear a talent gap,” said Steve Roop, general manager of Glassdoor for Employers. “The old methods of recruitment and job search just aren’t working well enough. Potential candidates are researching opportunities through new, interactive channels, and hiring decision-makers are planning to invest more in these channels to attract more qualified candidates.”

The survey of hiring decision makers found the top recruiting challenges are:

• Do not see enough qualified candidates for open positions: 48%
• Do not see enough candidates when filling a position: 29%
• Not actively using social media to recruit talented candidates: 24%
• Inability to track factors that influence candidates to apply: 20%
• Inability of company's recruiting/hiring systems to allow candidates to apply from a mobile device: 17%

More than half of hiring decision makers, 51%, said passive recruiting — where candidates are contacted by recruiters versus candidates who apply directly via a company’s career website — has been less effective in attracting highly qualified candidates over the past year. That’s even more true at large and midsize companies, at 69% and 70% respectively.

Of hiring decision makers who think passive recruiting is less effective:

• 51% indicated candidates have grown wary of emails from networking sites and respond at a much lower rate
• 47% indicated candidates respond to recruiter emails at a much lower rate
• 44% indicated candidates respond to recruiter phone calls at much lower rate

The survey was conducted online within the US by Harris Poll on behalf of Glassdoor between Oct. 27 and Nov. 4, 2014, among 515 US HR and business managers with primary authority for hiring. Mid-size businesses are defined as companies with 500 to 3,500 employees.