The UK labour market is in flux. After what proved to be an incredible boom in the jobs market post-Covid, there are now signs that hiring intent might be softening with the number of open roles dropping 47,000 in the last quarter according to the ONS.
But that doesn’t mean the workers aren’t still in demand. An Indeed survey of employers found that 82% are currently hiring and there are still 1.1 million open roles.
The challenge is filling these roles efficiently and the reality is that many still face barriers finding the right people.
For example, more than half of the UK employers (52%) we surveyed told us mismatched candidates was the biggest challenge followed by the time it takes to hire (43%). Other concerns included applicant volume and the tools and systems they use.
Recruitment concerns:
Skills gap is over-exaggerated by poor recruitment strategies
Lengthy recruitment processes could be pushing candidates away
A quarter of UK organisations to make redundancies in 2023
When will we get serious about recruiting disabled talent?
The same respondents said it takes an average of 20 days to find the right person vs only 12 in the United States. Open roles is such a problem that 57% of businesses experienced financial loss as a result.
Businesses cannot afford these setbacks and following the IMF’s recent downbeat forecast neither can the UK economy. So what can employers do?
The answer lies in reimagining hiring to connect employers with quality candidates faster.
Quality candidates
What’s more valuable to employers, hundreds if not thousands of people clicking on a job posting or a shortlist of qualified candidates?
In London alone, 65% of businesses say they’re struggling to recruit across a range of roles according to BusinessLDN, while 57% said they face a lack of applicants with the required skills.
A shortlist of quality candidates is far more valuable to employers and jobseekers. For the former it slashes the time required combing through CVs, while for the latter it reduces the anxiety we know jobseekers face waiting for feedback.
Rather than simply forcing the business to decide which applicants are relevant through time-intensive CV-sifting, the focus for the industry needs to shift to helping candidates and employers connect.
This also means employers need to really consider from the outset what information they need in order to receive relevant information from jobseekers.
Faster hiring
Let’s face it, in many cases hiring remains complex and cumbersome. For employers, this risks loss of productivity and financial loss but it can also have serious real world consequences for people.
Almost 40% of households would fall into poverty within three months of losing income according to the OECD: getting people into work quickly could literally help to feed families.
Getting a job should be as easy as pushing a button, and there’s no reason why we can’t shorten the time to hire from weeks to days. That starts with knowing the jobseeker and the employer’s preferences, and connecting them in a faster and much simpler way through matching.
Better value
Every pound of an employer’s budget needs to be spent wisely. Our research shows 79% of businesses only want to pay when they receive a qualified applicant who has higher-intent with a higher quality application.
Paying for results make sense. Budgeting this way delivers a more refined group of applicants to employers, who can quickly and easily connect through one platform and ultimately creating better experiences for everyone.
Building the future of work
As the world of work continues to evolve, how the industry hires needs to change. Matching jobseekers and employers to make a human connection, especially in this uncertain economy, is critical to success.
And, by introducing a pay for results pricing model, it ensures that only qualified applications that are more likely to lead to a hire get through to the talent team. Everybody wins.
Raj Mukherjee is executive vice president and general manager at Indeed
