Daily News

View All News

Candidate-driven market prompts need for strategy change, report finds

January 11, 2016

Employers need to adjust their hiring strategies to accommodate the changing employment market, according to the” 2016 Hiring Outlook: Strategies for Adapting to a Candidate-Driven Market,” report released today by The Execu|Search Group.

Job seekers now have opportunities to be more selective about the offers they take and the organizations they choose to work for, and employers now need to put a greater emphasis on attraction and retention efforts in order to hire and keep top talent within their organization, according to the report.

The report also found 27% of hiring managers surveyed plan to increase hiring of temporary, freelance, consulting or contract employees in 2016 to meet talent demands.

“As the job market continues to improve we are hearing from clients that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to both find and retain high-quality employees,” said Edward Fleischman, Chairman and CEO of The Execu|Search Group. “Compounding the problem, we’re seeing a disconnect between what employees want in a job and what employers believe they want. It is our hope that the 2016 Hiring Outlook will help employers better understand this candidate-driven job market and provide them with the tools to build and sustain a strong workforce.”

Findings of the 2016 Hiring Outlook surveys include:

  • The demand for talent is high: 66% of employers surveyed plan to hire additional staff in 2016.
  • There is a disconnect between what employers think job-seekers and employees are looking for and what they really want: Employers ranked salary and benefits higher than advancement opportunities when they were asked what they thought was important to prospective employees, but in reality 51% of employees said that the opportunity for professional development was their number one priority.
  • There are more options for job-seekers, which means more competition for employers: 56% of employees said they interviewed for two or more roles during the interview process for their current position.
  • Job hopping is real: 50% of survey respondents reported that they expected to have six-plus employers over the course of their career.
  • Companies are increasingly turning to temporary staff to meet talent demands: 27% of hiring managers surveyed plan to increase hiring of temporary, freelance, consulting, or contract employees in 2016.

The report’s findings were taken from a survey of 226 employers/hiring-decision makers from companies across a number of sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and nonprofit, among others. In addition to the employer survey, the report also incorporated findings from a survey of 591 job seekers and working professionals.