EBOOK
2022 Hiring Benchmark Report
Every year, we survey hiring professionals from across all industries to learn more about how they attract, hire, and retain their teams.
For our fifth annual report, we explore the state of hiring in 2022. This year has been an unusual one, marked by turbulent and often contradictory economic factors.
The Great Resignation has continued, and the hiring market appears to still be in the candidate’s favor, with far more job openings than job seekers to fill them. However, at the same time, the economy has seen an increase in layoffs, and hiring professionals are barraged with constant warnings of a looming recession.
To add even more color to the economic landscape, 2022 also experienced record inflation. And with the threat of COVID-19 finally waning, many organizations started instituting Return-to-Office (RTO) policies to bring employees back into the office. Our report seeks to understand how all of these swirling factors come together to impact the world of hiring.
The results in this report are based on a survey of over 500 hiring professionals across organizations large and small, and across a wide breadth of industries. Responses were collected in July and August of 2022. The 2022 report surveyed a global audience, with the majority of respondents hailing from the United States, Australia, and Canada.
Workforce Trends that Shaped 2022
The Great Resignation has had a lasting impact.
While the Great Resignation was first coined in May of 2021, it is anything but over. Employee turnover has been one of the leading concerns for organizations throughout 2022, and it’s had a major impact on hiring. When turnover is high, organizations not only have to fill new roles but also must backfill a growing list of open positions. Half of the hiring professionals surveyed this year say that turnover at their organization is a major issue.
Return-to-Office (RTO) is in full swing.
With the reduced threat of COVID-19, organizations are starting to make the move back into the physical office. While many employees became accustomed to (and quite fond of) remote work, many organizations have opted to require a return-to-office for some or all days of the week. In fact, the majority (54%) of survey respondents say that their organization has implemented a Return-to-Office plan this year.
This also varied widely by industry. The Transportation & Logistics, and Government/Public Sector industries were most likely to say they were returning to the office, while the Insurance and Technology industries were the least likely.
The office is no longer the dominant way to work.
With so many organizations returning to the office, we want to know how, and where, companies are working in 2022. According to our respondents, 39% of organizations are working mostly in-person, while another 39% are operating under a hybrid model. And 22% of surveyed hiring professionals classified their organization as operating mostly remotely. This suggests that the impact of the pandemic has some staying power—while most organizations prior to 2020 operated mostly in-person, today the playing field looks a lot more varied. While RTO is a major trend this year, remote and hybrid work is likely here to stay in at least some capacity.
Food for Thought
How do candidates and employees feel about each of these work models? Later in this report we dig into candidate preferences and the impact of certain work models on retention.
Optimism for 2023 abounds!
Despite talks of inflation, high turnover, layoffs, and a looming recession, our survey respondents reveal a remarkable level of optimism about 2023. Economic warnings aside, 78% of survey respondents believe that their organization will experience growth in 2023. 15% expect things to stay the same at their company, while just 2% expect negative growth in 2023. These levels also vary by industry, with the Staffing & Recruiting and Technology industries being the most likely to expect growth.
Key Takeaway
This data challenges much of the discourse we’ve heard throughout 2022 about an impending economic recession. Whatever the source of this confidence may be, it should provide some reassurance that hiring professionals feel like their organizations are on the right track. Whether or not the optimism is warranted will have to wait until next year!
The Hiring Landscape
Hiring demand may finally level out.
The year of 2022 has been characterized by an exceptionally high demand for talent, and not enough job seekers to fill that demand. At its peak in the United States, there were about two jobs for every person unemployed.
But early signs from this survey suggest that hiring volume may start to level out next year. We asked hiring professionals how many people they planned to hire this year, compared to next year. Altogether, the total hiring volume is projected to decrease by 3.9%. Just 27% of companies are planning to increase hiring next year, while 41% are planning to decrease hiring.
Key Takeaway
While a “decrease” may have a negative connotation, it’s not always a bad thing. With record hiring demand in 2022, a small decrease in hiring volume for 2023 may bring the hiring market back to a healthy equilibrium.
HR budgets, however, are on the rise.
Another major trend facing hiring professionals this year? Inflation. Reaching a peak of 9.1% in the United States, inflation has had a global impact, leading to a higher cost of goods, elevated gas prices, and greater salary demands from candidates. Inflation may also be the reason why hiring professionals say that they expect their HR budgets to grow next year, even when they anticipate lower hiring volume. On average, our survey respondents predict that their HR budgets would increase by 7.4%.
Hiring presents the same challenges as ever.
In 2022, the greatest challenge facing hiring professionals is the ability to find high-quality job candidates. This is followed by the challenges of getting enough applicants and reducing employee turnover. These challenges have been constants in every annual release of this benchmark report. However, this year, hiring professionals perceive many of these challenges to be a little less challenging compared to last year.
Confidence in hiring is up.
Every year, we ask hiring professionals how confident they are in their hiring process. This year, confidence is up, with 37% saying they feel very confident, and 43% saying they are at least a little confident. This echoes the fact that hiring professionals feel that many of the typical hiring challenges they face are a little less challenging this year as well.
How Companies are Hiring
The fundamentals of hiring remain the same.
The resume still reigns supreme as one of the most common ways that hiring professionals get to know their candidates.
Pre-employment assessments also take a dominant position, with most of the respondents hailing from Criteria’s customer base.
More interestingly, most of the elements on this list have seen a decline from last year: 14% fewer people are using reference checks and work samples, while 11% fewer are using in-person interviews, background checks, and cover letters. The only selection method on the list that has grown in usage is video interviewing.
Video interviewing is here to stay.
While the COVID-19 pandemic introduced many of us to the possibilities of remote work, we’ve already seen that many organizations are continuing to operate under remote or hybrid models. The use of video interviewing exploded in 2020, and has held relatively steady since then, with 55% of hiring professionals today saying that they conduct video interviews.
90% of hiring professionals are using a general tool like Zoom, Skype, or Teams to conduct these interviews, while 8% are using a tool specifically designed for video interviewing candidates. In almost the same proportions, the vast majority of respondents are conducting live video interviews as opposed to asynchronous video interviews.
Structured interviews are a work in progress.
The latest in psychometric research1 suggests that structured interviews are the best predictor of job performance. But organizations are lagging in their adoption of a truly structured process. Just 24% of hiring professionals state that they conduct highly structured interviews, with standardized questions and defined rating scales. The majority (57%) conduct somewhat structured interviews, with some standardized questions and loose ratings. And 17% conduct unstructured, conversational-style interviews.
Meanwhile, not everyone is convinced that structured interviews are better for hiring. Two-thirds of respondents believe structured interviews lead to a better hiring decision, while the remaining third believe that unstructured interviews are best.
There are hurdles to conducting truly structured interviews
While most organizations believe structured interviews will lead to better hiring outcomes, less than one-quarter are actually conducting true structured interviews. Why is that?
Ultimately, structured interviews require extra time and effort. For every given role, the hiring team must define a set of robust questions, create a rating scale, and train each evaluator on how to conduct the process. It’s no easy feat. 47% of hiring professionals say that defining the rubric is the biggest challenge, while 44% agree that defining the interview questions, and simply finding the time to develop the process, are also big challenges.
Key Takeaway
Structured interviews are one of the best ways to improve your hiring outcomes. But they take a bit of care and effort. One way to make the set-up process a little easier? Rely on technology to create and enforce a structured process that anyone can follow.
Organizations lean on a variety of assessments.
Most organizations are using more than one type of assessment to evaluate candidates. Personality and behavioral assessments are the most commonly used, with 80% of hiring professionals saying that they use them. This is followed by 74% using cognitive aptitude assessments, 60% using basic skills assessments (like Word, Excel, and Typing tests), 45% using technical skills assessments (such as specific coding assessments), 41% using emotional intelligence assessments, and finally 28% using risk or integrity assessments.
Key Takeaway
Structured interviews are one of the best ways to improve your hiring outcomes. But they take a bit of care and effort. One way to make the set-up process a little easier? Rely on technology to create and enforce a structured process that anyone can follow.
Organizations lean on a variety of assessments.
Most organizations are using more than one type of assessment to evaluate candidates. Personality and behavioral assessments are the most commonly used, with 80% of hiring professionals saying that they use them. This is followed by 74% using cognitive aptitude assessments, 60% using basic skills assessments (like Word, Excel, and Typing tests), 45% using technical skills assessments (such as specific coding assessments), 41% using emotional intelligence assessments, and finally 28% using risk or integrity assessments.
Key assessment
Each type of assessment evaluates a different quality that can help predict job performance. By using multiple types of assessments, you can start to experience a compounding effect that strengthens the talent signal from your selection process. A stronger talent signal = a stronger hiring decision.
Diversity is still a major priority when hiring.
This year, 25% of organizations say that hiring a more diverse team is a top priority, while 36% say it is somewhat of a priority. Just 8% say it is not currently a priority. When it comes to achieving diversity goals, the majority of hiring professionals say they are using inclusive job descriptions to hire a more diverse workforce. 44% are proactively sourcing candidates from underrepresented groups, 43% are conducting diversity training for hiring managers, 38% have set up diverse hiring teams, 29% have created DE&I teams, and 14% use blind hiring.
Attracting and Retaining Talent
Talent mobility is a big focus for organizations.
Hiring isn’t just about recruiting from outside the company. For many organizations, a healthy proportion of candidates will already be working there! And it’s equally important to use a robust and predictive process for evaluating internal candidates as it is for external candidates.
The process of enabling current employees to move from role to role is often referred to as talent mobility, and it can be a great way to motivate and reward existing employees. When it comes to creating a formal process, just 28% of organizations have a defined program in place to encourage talent mobility. Another 28% don’t currently have a program but are working on creating one.
Key Takeaway
With turnover at all time highs, talent mobility can help to solve a couple of key problems. For one, it helps hiring professionals fill their talent pipelines with more candidates. But even more powerfully, internal promotions are a fantastic motivator and can help to retain the top talent you already have. Read on to see just how much talent mobility programs can impact turnover!
Remote companies shave lower turnover. So do companies with talent mobility programs.
As we saw earlier in the report, half of organizations say that turnover has been a major issue this year. But organizations are more likely to experience higher turnover under different conditions. For example, 52% of companies that instituted mandatory return-to-office policies say they have major turnover issues, compared to just 49% of those who did not institute mandatory RTO.
We also saw a major difference based on what work models an organization uses. Turnover is a bigger issue at companies that operate mostly in-person, at 56%. This stands in stark contrast to the just 41% of mostly remote organizations that say that turnover has been a major issue. And finally, companies that have talent mobility programs in place are less likely to say they’ve experience major turnover issues, at just 47%, compared to the 55% of those companies that do not have established talent mobility programs.
Key Takeaway
These results validate a lot of the chatter in the talent market over the last year. Employees have been saying that they like flexibility and remote work, and that they like opportunities to be rewarded at work.
This data provides tangible evidence that these are some of the levers that organizations can activate to improve turnover. While not every industry has the luxury of allowing flexible work patterns, it benefits all talent professionals to understand how various business decisions can impact retention.
Employers think money is most important to candidates. Candidates disagree.
When it comes to attracting talent, whether inside or outside of the company, it’s important to understand what candidates want.
For our 2022 Candidate Experience Report that we published earlier this year, we surveyed 2,000 job candidates and asked them to rank their priorities when it comes to selecting a new job. And in the survey for this report, we asked hiring professionals to rank the same priorities based on what they thought candidates want. The result was a pretty big mismatch.
The hiring professionals said far and away that candidates care about compensation the most. In fact, 48% of hiring professionals ranked compensation as #1, compared to just 17% of candidates. Overall, candidates actually ranked compensation as third on their list of priorities, after work-life balance, and opportunities for career advancement. Meanwhile, hiring professionals placed opportunities for career advancement in the fourth position, two position below the candidates’ ranking.
Key Takeaway
Funnily enough, the top two priorities of candidates align pretty well with two of the biggest levers impacting turnover on the previous page. “Work-life balance” lines up with the desire for flexible or remote work. And “Opportunities for career advancement” lines up with talent mobility programs. By addressing what candidates and employees really want, organizations have a shot at improving retention and employee satisfaction.
Survey Respondents
