Each year, Criteria conducts a survey of hiring professionals from all industries to better understand how they are attracting, hiring, and retaining their workforce and the hiring trends that shape the talent landscape. This year’s Hiring Benchmark Report is based on the responses gathered in July and August of 2022 from more than 500 hiring professionals from organizations of all sizes around the globe.
Between the continued effects of the Great Resignation, economic turbulence, and a push to return to the office, the data we collected is reflective of another unusual year in hiring. Let’s take a look at some of the key hiring trends that we found in this year’s report.
1. Hiring professionals a very optimistic about the future.
With an almost flagrant disregard for the economic turmoil of 2022, a shocking 78% of hiring professionals believe that their companies will see growth in 2023. Even more surprising, just 2% are expecting a decline. Where does this optimism stem from? We’re not quite sure, but hope springs eternal in spite of inflation and a highly-competitive talent market.
2. Hiring demand may level out next year, but hiring budgets are still expected to increase.
Employers are expecting that they’ll be making about 4% fewer hires in 2023 than they did this year. This is in contrast with their expectations for last year, where organizations were expecting a 5% increase in new hires. Despite the reduced demand for new hires, our respondents predicted that their HR budgets would increase in by 7.4% in 2023.
3. Less than a third of organizations have a talent mobility program.
Just 28% of companies we surveyed had a talent mobility program in place. But those that did have one were also less likely to experience major turnover issues, supporting the idea that talent mobility and hiring from within are solid strategies to retain and strengthen the internal talent you already have access to.
4. 54% of organizations are planning to return to the office.
The return-to-office (RTO) is expected to be in full swing next year. However, for companies who are struggling to keep employee churn low, this may not be the right move. Strict RTO policies have been tied to increased turnover rates. Compare this to companies who have stayed primarily remote: they are 9% less likely to experience major turnover problems than companies using the hybrid model and 15% less likely than majority in-person workplaces.
5. Employers believe that salary is the top priority for candidates, but candidates disagree.
An interesting wrinkle that the tight candidate market has brought to light is the misalignment between what employers think candidates want and what candidates actually want. We compared the findings from our 2022 Candidate Experience Report with those from this year’s Hiring Benchmark report and found that employers are placing too much emphasis on pay and not enough on work-life balance when it comes to courting candidates.
To learn more about each of these hiring trends in detail – plus other fascinating findings – download your copy of the 2022 Hiring Benchmark Report today.
