hiring-frenzy

In a Hiring Frenzy? Mobility Pros Need to Get Better at Hiring than Firing

The Great Reshuffle was one of the most high-profile business phenomena organizations had encountered in the last decade. This event has startled many organizations to fill widening job gaps. They just struggled to satisfy the rapidly evolving demands of the local and global workforce.

While a recession has not arrived, talks about this prediction have riled business leaders up. Companies such as Uber and Netflix announced their layoffs and hiring freezes strategies.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, told employees that “the market is experiencing a seismic shift and we need to react accordingly.” Tech stocks experienced a dive and Uber reported almost $6 million in losses in its first quarter of the year.

Consequently, Khosrowshahi directed the company to treat hiring as a privilege, implying that a hiring slowdown or even a freeze is a road the company is willing to take.

Hired too many people

On the other hand, Netflix took a rather dim strategy by laying off 150 employees across divisions in response to a forecasted decline of 2 million subscribers. The subscription-based company experienced decreasing revenue growth and decided to fire workers to cut costs.

One thing these firms have noticed is that they’ve made a mistake in hiring too many people in response to the Great Resignation.

But should these notable companies’ decisions on executing layoffs and hiring freezes warrant worries toward recruiters? Well, according to the chief marketing officer at Employ, Allie Kelly, her company’s data demonstrates that record-high job openings are starting to level off to match the huge labor supply. There are an estimated 2 jobs vacant per unemployed individual. 

She argues that though news of the slowdown of hiring strategies of big-name companies is highlighted, these companies only represent specific industries and geographies. They are, in fact, considered just a “small slice” of the US economy. 

Moreover, Employ’s hiring data shows that roughly more than half of US companies possessing less than 500 employees yielded increased hiring levels compared to last year; 46% are even planning to continue to increase their hiring for the rest of the Year 2022. 

Who’s got the upperhand?

Kelly exclaims that all this talk of a downturn isn’t consistent with Employ’s data. However, she notes that this fear is understandable because workers have begun to reprioritize ever since the onslaught of the pandemic. Workers have been quitting and seeking better job opportunities. 

It’s safe to say that the labor market experienced drastic shifts when the pandemic started.

Employers now need to understand that workers in today’s circumstances have significant influence over the competitive labor market. Greenhouse, a New York City-based hiring software provider, conducted a survey that sheds light on why employees have the upper hand even with a potential recession.

According to the Greenhouse survey, 57% of 1,500 employees dispersed in the US reported that they will be actively looking for a new job even when a recession hits the economy. Moreover, 2 out of 3 employees mentioned they would rather look for a new job with better compensation rather than stay with their employer who opts to cut compensation in tough economic events.

Daniel Chait, CEO and co-founder of Greenhouse, says that regardless of the economic climate, employers, HR personnel, and global mobility professionals need to compete for talent. He adds that it might be the first time that employees have the upper hand in a recession. 

Unimpressed by time-consuming recruitment process

The survey further unravels more insights into workers’ views on employer behavior concerning the whole employee life cycle. Earlier this year, Greenhouse observed that 60% of candidates are unimpressed by time-consuming recruitment processes. 

Additionally, despite their negative outlook on the economic landscape, the majority of the respondents are holding employers to a higher standard. Sixty percent reported that they would consider leaving their current employer if they opt to cut off employee benefits such as work-from-home options, free meals, and mental wellness coverages.

And in the event that the company starts to experience the effects of a slowing economy, workers desire to be kept in the loop. The failure of a company to be transparent regarding its declining growth might cost them employee loyalty. More than 86% of workers reported that their loyalty to the company will diminish if it fails to share any important events that might affect organization-wide occurrences such as hiring freezes or layoffs. 

If a company chooses to layoff workers, employees (77%)  would rather have these layoffs done personally than do firing virtually 

It will be critical for employers to understand these findings and create better hiring strategies to prevent costly layoffs in the future, especially with a predicted recession. With or without a recession, there is pressure now to formulate better strategies to attract and retain employees. Greenhouse finds that today’s job seeker is much more knowledgeable in identifying people-oriented companies.  

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