This year has been a tough one for HR teams across the country. Workers are leaving their jobs in droves, costs of labor and recruitment are rising, and candidates are becoming more selective when choosing a new job. 

Overcoming the challenges that these new industrial norms introduce is the difference between a successful season and a lack of new talent. Today we’ll be discussing exactly what these challenges are, and how they can affect your hiring efforts.

4 Hiring Challenges in 2022

1. Retaining Top Talent

The issue on the minds of most of the HR world right now is that of retention. The event known as “The Great Resignation”, where millions of Americans quit their jobs each month for brighter horizons, has continued. In January of 2022, over 4 million Americans voluntarily terminated their employment. At this point it’s no longer an event — it’s become a norm. 

One of the major reasons that retention rates continue to drop is the rising inflation rates. In order to combat rising inflation, workers feel obligated to quit rather than look for a pay raise. This is because, on average, those who change jobs receive a larger increase in wages (over 5%) than those who stick with their employers (about 3-4%). When inflation is trending at 7%, this pay raise becomes a necessity to survive.

2. Engaging New Talent

Competition is stiffer than ever in the recruiting industry. If you don’t find a way to stand out above your industry partners, your talent pool will suffer. Applicants will drop out of the application process, and your brand won’t stand out among those that can hold onto the best right up to the hire.

Modernize your approach by focusing on social recruiting and other social media-based hiring methods. As of now, two of the three biggest focuses of talent agency teams are LinkedIn posts, as well as other social media activity. It’s where the younger generations look for work, and by capitalizing on that, you’ll find yourself with a bigger talent pool than you may have thought possible.

3. High Recruitment Costs

The cost to recruit a single employee is high, as any seasoned hiring manager will tell you. What you may see, however, if you crunch the numbers, is that this number has stayed fairly stagnant for the past 8 years. It costs around $4,400 dollars to get a new hire in the door, but as more and more employees leave their workplaces, this cost will have to be paid many times over. This doesn’t even include “bad hires”, which can drain employers for 10-15k per employee on average.

4. Utilizing Outdated Recruiting Strategies

Focusing your efforts on traditional hiring outlets, like job aggregators or boards, is a recipe for mediocrity. You’re likely to get loads of applicants, sure, but the overall quality of said applicants is going to be fairly low. You’re just not going to find top talent consistently. 

One of the best ways to find superior candidates that many employers neglect is through employee referrals. Each of your employees has valuable industry connections that can bring not only the best but the elusive passive candidate to your company. More than any other method of hiring, top employers are choosing to focus on referrals through rewards programs and recognition.

Mitigate Challenges with AI Solutions

If you feel that you’re behind the times when it comes to recruiting tools, AI technology can bring your organization up to speed. PandoLogic’s suite of AI-powered hiring tools allows you to automate nearly any portion of the recruitment process. 

Our chatbot, Wendy, can not only inform candidates and consumers about your company but can provide AI-driven solutions, as well as performing a range of other functions. PandoExchange provides your company with a network of job aggregators that target a diverse range of talent and can help track down your unicorn candidate. 
Reduce hiring costs by offloading menial tasks onto AI recruiting software, or cut back on bad hires with expert tips based on collected data. Our tools can get your most important metrics where they need to be, all while staying within your bandwidth.