Technology is evolving rapidly, and staying at the top of the technology-driven change is essential as we enter 2023 and beyond. Organizations that adopt technology early usually stay one step ahead of their rivals and maintain resilience in disruption. Also, companies that don’t make changes experience the opposite effect where businesses can lag behind compared to the competitors. Every industry is evolving as technology brings changes in the traditional process. This change is seen in the recruitment industry too. Hiring trends that worked previously need to be updated. So, a recruiter needs to know all the new trends, especially if hiring for the technology industry. This blog is for you if you are clueless about the 2023 hiring trends.
Technical Hiring Trends – 2023 and Beyond
Like 2022, even this year will see technology shaping most recruitment trends. Recruiters will prefer to rely on virtual support in this ever-evolving and tech-driven world.
The dynamics changed after COVID-19 where; the post-pandemic era is forcing people to stay at home more than ever. They prefer to depend on technology for entertainment, shopping, and work. Various professionals find innovative technology a threat to their roles, but 54% of HR recruiters see it as an opportunity.
Remote Work
Remote work might sound like an older trend, but it is a recruiting trend that is here to stay. Almost 98% of workers prefer the option of remote work at least on some days of the week.
The primary in-demand job requirement is flexibility. Organizations that are adapting to this are winning as they can onboard top performers.
However, HRs must develop efficient techniques and processes for remote recruitment and onboarding. This will require additional training and learning too. Also, as soon as tech companies dive into complete remote teams, different challenges might arise, so processes will have to be set for those.
Using Automation and AI
AI is capturing many industries, and hiring processes are one of them. It helps recruitment teams shortlist candidates and automate various tasks required during the recruitment process.
AI is one of the most significant tech recruiting trends for 2023, and it will expand beyond because:
- It helps to automate mundane tasks
- It enables companies to focus on diverse hiring (with proper supervision)
- AI skims through thousands of résumés and shortlists the ideal candidates
- Helps with cost-effective hiring
- It is ideal to source and hire passive candidates who are not very active on their social media profiles but have all the necessary skills.
AI can help you perform tasks faster than doing everything manually. Although, it is essential to add human intervention in your hiring processes at some steps to ensure that the machine is not leaving out good candidates as it works on criteria and keywords.
If a candidate hasn’t added particular keywords in their application, AI might not select them, so be mindful of that. However, AI has transformed the hiring industry, and using it to your advantage will surely help you to gain a competitive advantage in recruitment over other organizations.
Employee Engagement and Experience
Employee engagement has been a critical topic of discussion for many years. It still holds equal value in 2023 too.
Employee engagement and experience means the length to which employees are energetic and inspired to work and feel positive while communicating with their team members.
Also, organizations can significantly benefit from high employee engagement rates because workers will be satisfied with their jobs, so employee retention will also be increased.
In the coming years, recruiting professionals will have to focus more on employee engagement and develop innovative ideas to ensure that workers find their job environment exciting and positive. Also, it might get a bit challenging as remote workers will reasonably increase in the coming years.
Most companies are achieving this by focusing on employee skill training and development and anonymously taking employee satisfaction surveys. To boost engagement, equip your employees with professional skills, define their position clearly, and create a bridge between what they do and the organization’s message.
Focus on Employee Wellness Programs
After the pandemic, employers are expected to focus on employee wellness programs. It helps to promote a healthy workplace for employees and even makes you retain or attract workers as it shows them that you care.
If your company does not have an Employee Wellness Program, you must create one immediately. Productivity and team performance are directly linked to employee wellness. So it is vital to change the working environment to show them that you care about them beyond work and business.
Chatbots for Interviews
Chatbots have been around for a few years, but their use was limited till the customer service industry. Although, they can be used in the hiring process to encourage candidates to apply for a job when someone lands on your website.
Apart from that, they are used to even pre-screen candidates and scheduling interviews. They conduct human-like text conversations with candidates to collect their resumes, and form responses, videos, pictures, and documents.
They can be further used for answering common questions that the applicant might have regarding the job position or the scope of work. The chatbots are intuitive, empathetic, and presumptuous. Also, they can communicate via chat, text messages, and email.
It is a recruitment trend that will stay for a long time because:
- It improves the candidate’s experience
- Assists in facilitating the scheduling of interviews
- It helps to screen candidates to evaluate their potential
- Respond to candidate inquiries immediately
- It helps HR professionals automate a few tasks like responding to candidates or collecting their documents
- It helps to fasten the hiring process
Hyper-Personalization
It is a common strategy in marketing campaigns as it allows brands to attract potential customers. But from 2023, hiring managers will also use it to source potential employees.
The majority of the workforce prefers to work remotely, plus there is a skilled labor shortage in the market. In such a scenario, decision-making autonomy is in the hands of employees instead of employers.
Hyper-personalization gives flexibility and options to alter work environments according to employees’ needs. Companies are trying to offer personalized experiences to their tech workers through management, work environment, and communication.
This will not only help them to attract a skilled workforce, but it will also enable them to resolve issues around gender, diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility. Organizations are further focusing on converting conventional offices into accommodating, interactive, inclusive settings.
E Presenteeism
E Presenteeism is a new phenomenon that is brewing amongst remote workers. Many employees feel that since they are getting the benefit of working from home, they need to be online and available as much as possible.
This stems from 86% of workers’ fundamental belief that they have to prove to their higher authorities that they are hard-working and worthy of their job position. Although, this has a negative effect as it can result in depression and burnout.
Hence, E Presenteeism can trigger another recruitment trend to tackle the issue of over-connectedness and availability. HRs and reporting managers must ensure that employees are clocking out and are well-rested and well-rested.
Employers should focus on developing programs and systems to encourage work-life balance while enhancing productivity for their remote and in-office employees.
Hiring and Onboarding
Technology has already transformed the hiring process from the initial screening of candidates to the final offer letters. Also, all the steps have become digital as there are tools that help with online screening, virtual assessments, coding/skills tests, and conducting online interviews.
With such resources, recruitment managers can implement innovative hiring steps and offer a streamlined process for candidates. Major companies immediately adopt rapid technological development to make onboarding an error-free and hassle-free process for recruits.
Utilizing advanced technologies like conducting online background checks, online employee onboarding, and offering one-click access to compensation with benefits and paid holidays will be greatly valued and appreciated. Both prospective employees and employers will significantly benefit from the advancement of technology as it will improve and accelerate the recruitment process.
Data-Driven Decisions
It is one of the recent trends on the recruiting block, and it is here to stay. Many companies are focusing on using data to guide their hiring decisions. HR teams with data-driven decisions are more likely to be superior in the future to those who will not use data to guide their choices.
Also, it is essential to consider that information and data will continue to pile up with remote work and the ever-emerging technological changes. So, managers and decision-makers must thoroughly understand data and budgets for a healthy bottom line. The most significant recruitment trend is that every strategy must align with crucial data and reports.
Employer Branding
Branding is at an all-time high for brands, companies, and even individuals. In fact, 86% of HR professionals believe branding is also becoming synonymous with the recruitment field.
So, going forward, you will have to prioritize employer branding in your strategy to attract top talent. HRs will have to shift their focus from just innovative recruiting methods to combining them with branding strategies.
The primary reason behind introducing this trend is that organizations might face a shortage of qualified candidates. Companies will have to focus on social media and use it for effective brand building to increase their reach amongst potential employees.
They will have to work towards ensuring that eligible and interested candidates apply for the job roles so they can consequently increase the joining ratio.
With branding, employers will have to focus on an inclusive culture and bring fairness and transparency to employee-related processes like performance evaluations, setting objectives, giving feedback, compensation management, etc.
Hiring Global Talent
With increasing remote and hybrid models, companies do not have to confide in hiring from certain geographical boundaries. Instead, they can look for suitable talent around the globe.
A trend of borderless employment opportunities is on the rise, and it will significantly increase in the future as companies look for talent with specific tech skills.
Apart from that, companies can hire good talent on a lesser budget. For example, a software developer in New York will charge higher than a developer in India.
Thus, this trend will benefit employers and employees as they will get a chance to widen their horizons and explore opportunities with international companies.
Gamification
One downside to remote working is that employees feel disconnected, isolated, and bored without in-person interactions. So, one of the hiring trends going forward will be that the HRs will have to figure out how employees remain content and engaged.
Gamification is one of the most effective ways to accomplish this. In fact, gamification in the workplace impacts 90% of hires and makes them more productive.
Ethical Leadership
Workplace values will be based on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It will be one of the most intense recruiting trends going forward. Companies will also need to make efforts to make workplaces more pleasant and to eliminate bullying and toxic behavior.
So, it is crucial to develop and nurture ethical leadership to ensure there are no dubious remarks, harmful conduct or nepotism at workplaces.
Programmatic Job Advertising
Programmatic job advertising uses data, machine learning, AI, and analytics to buy and post job ads. This trend was introduced in 2022 and is getting popular amongst recruiters in 2023.
With programmatic job advertising, you can access the internet instead of some popular job boards. Programmatic job advertising helps you to:
- Source the best candidates
- Expand your reach so that better candidates apply
- It helps you get helpful information
Conclusion
Technology is constantly changing. Innovations are regularly taking place, and it won’t be long before new benchmarks are created in the tech recruitment space. Organizations that will understand these recent trends and adapt them based on their processes will benefit and find better-qualified employees. They will also see a better employee retention rate.