With almost three-quarters (71%) of employers planning to increase headcount in the next 12 months, having a clear attraction strategy is going to be a key focus for hiring managers. Already the jobs market is picking up at a rapid pace, and so the war for talent looks set to rear its head once again.
According to our latest workplace study ‘The new front in the war for talent’, employers regard attraction as one of the main challenges of this year, and almost half (46%) of employers think it will be harder to recruit top talent in the next 12 months. This can be attributed to a number of factors: not only will there be increased competition from other companies as everyone in the marketplace begins to grow their teams, but there is a perception that much of the best talent is already committed to existing roles. Almost a quarter (24%) of employers are also concerned about their negative brand perception.
In addition, employers believe that a further challenge to attracting talent is the drop in salaries and bonuses that has characterised the last couple of years. Almost a quarter of employers (22%) believe that their inability to offer high enough salaries will make it harder to attract talent, and a further 39% think that the bonus backlash will affect their ability.
Despite these challenges, it is encouraging to see that many employers are determined to stand out from the crowd and attract the best talent. Over half (54%) are investing in their employer brand, and 30% are being more flexible about the required skillset. This is encouraging news for jobseekers, almost a third of whom (31%) saw a long wish list of skills as one of the main challenges to finding the right role.
Nevertheless, the concern by employers around not offering high salaries is confirmed by employees, a quarter of whom put depressed salary levels as another key challenge to finding a new position. As employers remain reluctant to return to the high levels seen prior to the recession, jobseekers will need to re-assess their expectations, until confidence has been fully restored to the sector.
