Employment Trends Heading into 2022
2021 was another year of exciting growth and incredible challenges. Changes seem to be happening faster than many business leaders can keep up with. As a recruiter and small business owner, I wanted to share a few trends I see in the employment sphere as we wrap up 2021 and look ahead to 2022:
Wages are rising and will continue to do so. Just like any supply/demand situation, a shortage of willing and qualified workers in many key industries is causing employers to improve benefits, increase wages, and offer generous sign-on bonuses. This feeding frenzy will likely continue into 2022.
Ghosting is here to stay. In 2018, “ghosting” (dropping out of the interview process without any communication) became a trend, and it’s not going away. In an employee’s job market, the incentive to be on your best behavior is gone. Reduce risk by having a high-touch interview and onboarding process with frequent communication using the candidates preferred communication method (text, email, or phone call). Always have a Plan B for what you’ll do with your time if a candidate doesn’t show up for the interview.
Communicate value. Know the value of the “extras” that you offer your team. Sell them to candidates during the interview process, but remind your staff of them throughout the year. Consider an annual meeting with each employee to review pay and benefits with them. They may look at their wage and think that they are only making $20 per hour and the place down the road is offering $22 for the same job. Maybe profit sharing adds an additional 3% to their pay, and your health insurance plan is a premium one in which the company pays most of the expense. Build an excel sheet that will show their hourly rate and also the dollar value of all the extras you have built in.
Develop from within. Build into your team with on-the-job training, workshops, professional development opportunities, etc. Take them to conferences (virtual or in person). The companies that will win in this labor market are those that have processes in place to take average employees and help them grow into great employees. If you can’t hire the skills you are looking for, find a way to train for it!
Market your job openings. Job descriptions are NOT job ads. Job ads are a marketing piece to sell both the available position AND your company. This takes way more strategy than throwing your job description up on Indeed and hoping for the best. Job ads are continuing to cost more money, and you need to make the most of them. Who are you as an employer? Why would someone want to work for you? What makes this job interesting? If you can’t answer these questions, consider making it one of your top priority assignments for Q1 of 2022.
2022 looks to be another adventurous year for those individuals brave enough to wear the “leader” hat. One thing is for sure: I don’t think next year will be boring. May God richly bless you in the year ahead!