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      Less Competition, More Talent: Here’s How to Recruit in an Economic Downturn

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      What You’ll Learn

      How a ‘down’ economy affects hiring strategiesWhat companies should avoid doing in rough economies (it’s probably not what you think)Advantages of recruiting in an economic downturn12 best practices to help gain a competitive advantage when the economy slows

      About this eBook

      If you’re in the hiring space, you’re probably no stranger to this shifting landscape of talent acquisition. Now, we’re facing the newest challenge in the labor market: rising inflation, fears of recession, and labor shortages. But no matter the economic climate, it’s your job to find and retain top tech talent. Discover how can you adapt your hiring strategy to successfully recruit, keep pipelines warm (and strengthen your own career) during an economic downturn. More

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      in Employer

      Get Internal Approval for Recruiting Tools: A Step-by-Step Playbook

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      What You’ll Learn

      How to articulate the problem the tool will solve (with examples!)How to prepare a solid rebuttal (just in case)The communication structure to follow when you request the tool

      About this eBook

      Your team has big goals and you’ve identified a new recruiting tool to help. So what’s the best strategy to get it approved internally? Securing approval may feel like a tremendous challenge but this playbook will outline, step by step, how to get your recruitment tool budget approved so you can better automate and streamline your hiring process. More

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      in Employer

      Why You Should be Recruiting Laid Off Talent (+ 3 Key Strategies) 

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      Between shrinking labor force participation due to the pandemic and the “Great Resignation,” in which almost 50 million workers left their jobs, we’ve faced a whirlwind of a labor market. Now, amid increasing inflation and labor shortages, the job market remains uncertain. Whether it’s business as usual or you’re under a hiring freeze, it’s important to think about nurturing your pipeline and recruiting laid off talent. 

      This year, numerous layoffs came as a tough blow to many tech workers thrust back into the job market. In September of this year, job cuts surged 46% with US-based employers announcing over 29,000 layoffs. 

      Surprisingly, mass layoffs are a relatively recent occurrence dating just back to the 1970s. Since then, many Americans have come to accept layoffs as an inevitable outcome of economic downturns. Workers could no longer rely on the same company to employ them for the majority of their professional careers. 

      So, let’s review key strategies for talent acquisition teams and recruiters to grow their talent pool and find top candidates despite an economic downturn. Here’s how you should approach recruiting laid off talent and stand out in this market. 

      1. Don’t let stigma influence you

      Let’s get one thing straight. Firing is typically performance-based. About 74% of US workers are considered at-will employees. This means an employer may fire them for any reason (if not illegal), or no reason, without warning, and no just cause. 

      Layoffs, on the other hand, are typically unrelated to an employee’s ability to perform a job and the quality at which they do it. Let go of biases traditionally attached to hearing someone was “let go.” Do not assume a laid off worker is ‘less than’ someone a company continued to employ. Perhaps the individual who was laid off was great at their job but the company shifted direction or the economy took an unexpected turn. 

      These days, layoffs aren’t frowned upon as they were in the past. We see an open dialogue about the state of the hiring market and people’s experiences with layoffs. An explosion of  LinkedIn posts in which people share their stories helps prove we are overcoming a taboo. 

      Rethink the connotation of a “job hopper”

      In one LinkedIn post, Rowena Millward reflected on the days in which 10 years of tenure was the average. Then, a changing world of work prompted reinvention. From the shock of having to “adapt or die,” she found success and growth in “dabbling” and making multiple career transitions. Rowena garnered over 1,000 reactions on this post — her statements resonated. We should embrace reinvention. 

      Brittany King, Senior Manager of TA-Talent Intelligence & Diversity, encourages employers and jobseekers to reject negativity around “job-hopping.” In fact, she encourages employers to see past it as a DEI practice. 

      She says, “In many cases, ‘job-hoppers’ have had more barriers than others in the workforce.” This could include health challenges, economic hardships, or transportation issues. Brittany even credits job-hopping to her own career success. “My skills are varied, my familiarity with different industries is comprehensive, and my understanding of organizational culture is robust.”

      Many of the challenges laid off talent face stem from an occurrence simply out of their control. Empathize with them and recognize how much strength it takes to bounce back and re-enter the job search post-layoff. 

      2. Be open to diverse talent 

      Reframing your mindset around particular talent opens up your recruiting to a world of hiring opportunities in places you may not have expected. 

      Layoffs trigger a mix of emotions but also present the opportunity to pivot and explore careers in areas of passion and genuine interest. As people reassess their professional lives after a layoff, many decide to pivot into new fields or industries. In the spirit of Rowena Millward, they embrace reinvention.  

      At Hired, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting numerous jobseekers who broke into the tech sector from wildly unrelated fields — such as music.

      Paula Muldoon used Hired to land a role as a Senior Software Engineer. When we asked her to share her story with us, Paula explained she made a transition into tech from a classical music career. Paula said, “I turned 30 and wanted to earn more money and have a better quality of life. I knew a few developers and they seemed to be really happy and since I could retrain quickly, software seemed like a good option. And turns out I love it!” 

      A successful Makers Academy bootcamp grad, Paula took a bold leap and an unconventional route to make her big career move. Her story serves as a reminder to be open-minded about non-traditional talent or those with second careers.

      Read more stories about candidates who successfully pivoted their careers: 

      In Hired’s panel discussion, “An Insider’s Guide to Hiring in Tech,” our CTO Dave Walters joined TA leaders to discuss improving the recruiting experience for jobseekers and better practices for sourcing talent.

      Panelist John Beard, Director of Corporate & Technical Recruiting at One Medical, made notable points on expanding candidate pipelines with non-traditional talent. 

      “Look for those non-traditional avenues to become a Software Engineer. Look at the bootcamps and at earlier-in-career talent…If you’re an organization specifically looking for the traditional pedigree of Software Engineers from a traditional college education and program, you’re going to miss out on a lot of great Engineers. There are a lot of great self-taught Engineers. There are a lot of great bootcamp Engineers. I’ve hired a lot of great Engineers in their second careers. You can attract them and leverage them on your team, but you have to be open to it.”

      Related: Partner Roundup: Coding Bootcamps & Non-Traditional Tech Education 

      Defining talent based on pedigree is a disservice to your team and puts unnecessary limitations on your recruiting, so look beyond labels and hire for skills.

      Urging companies to prioritize equitable hiring, Hired’s CEO Josh Brenner, explained in the 2022 State of Wage Inequality report, “When competition is high, it benefits organizations to consistently identify non-traditional talent. It creates more robust pipelines of candidates with new ideas to drive businesses forward.”

      Pro Tip: You can add bootcamps to your search criteria on the Hired platform. Or you can work with our events team to create a coding challenge. They’ll help you connect with one or more of our bootcamp partners to co-host and co-promote a challenge or other event. 

      3. Offer what’s important to jobseekers

      To attract the right talent, provide what jobseekers want. In our 2022 State of Tech Salaries report, we explored what tech professionals seek in their roles and job offers. The top perks tech workers would trade for a higher salary/offer are:

      Flexible work schedulePhysical health benefits Paid time off   

      To be successful in recruiting laid off talent amid such volatile economic times, offer flexibility and practical benefits, such as health insurance and 401K retirement matching. These trade-offs are a sharp contrast to findings from the 2021 report, in which more candidates would accept a lower salary for company stock or equity. 

      Perhaps, this reflected a desire for stability as employees assessed what their careers meant in the midst of a pandemic. Employees likely wanted to feel connected to the business and its future growth.  

      Beyond what employers can tangibly offer, tech professionals weigh company values as important too. Again, referencing John Beard, we realize the importance of attracting tech workers who want work aligned with their values:

      “What a company does is increasingly important for engineers who can take their talent to just about any industry. The mission and what the company does really matters. This means concentrating on finding those missionaries as opposed to the mercenaries, who are just looking to maximize their earning potential.”

      Presenting what your company has to offer in values helps you identify the candidates who share your organization’s vision. 

      Is your culture represented well in your employer brand?

      For guidance, download our eBook written for scaling startups, Want to Boost Responses from Candidates? Add Your UVP in Strategic Recruitment Messaging. Work for a large enterprise corporation? Here’s Losing Top Candidates to Unicorns and FAANG Companies? How to Stop It.

      Don’t get us wrong — a competitive salary is essential! However, it loses some of its charm when the fear of getting laid off down the line is present. 

      Perhaps the candidates’ desire to join companies who do meaningful work and the candidates’ willingness to trade salary for benefits enhancing quality of life ultimately reflects their search for security and trust in their jobs. Make candidates feel safe. 

      When recruiting laid off talent, be transparent  

      Does your company offer professional development opportunities? Do they offer tuition reimbursement? What about PTO and family planning/maternity/paternity benefits? Be prepared to tell candidates all about it. Openly share them early in the process. Let them know you want to be supportive by investing in their future — not making them uncertain about it.

      Be sure to keep candidates informed throughout the process. Be upfront about what you’re looking for too as you build trust. Candidates want stability more than ever. Your honest communication about where the company was, is, and will go can help provide that. Share numbers and details to paint a clear picture of your organization. Sell them on why the candidate should begin the next chapter of their career with your team. 

      Go find new talent for your pipeline by recruiting laid off talent

      Do you need better alignment with your hiring teams? Check out our research on What Happens when TA & Hiring Managers Unite. Or if you’re simply spread thin these days, Hired Technical Sourcer offers short or long-term help shortlisting, communicating, and screening technical talent. 

      We also offer opportunities for candidates to showcase their engineering skills and for employers to asynchronously evaluate them using Hired Assessments. 

      Ready to learn more about how Hired supports talent acquisition and recruitment? See how it works for employers with a demo and set up a trial.  More

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      in Workplace

      Future Workplace Trends and Hashtags

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      I won’t ask you if you’ve heard of “quiet quitting.” I refuse. In the last half of 2022, the trending hashtag started a movement on TikTok that mysteriously went on and on like a bad case of food poisoning. Long after the topic had passed its expiration date, employment bloggers (including this one) continued writing about it, while the rest of the workforce debated whether quiet quitters were valiantly setting work/life boundaries or justifying their poor work ethic.
      A few months later, “quiet firing” began trending, and we learned how the term had been applied to employers who intentionally mistreat or neglect employees in order to prompt them to quit. Now, even “quick quitting” has replaced “job hopping” in the online workplace vernacular. For all the drivel TikTok has churned out, suddenly the platform has become a powerful tool for employees, giving them a voice they’re using to let employers know the tables have turned.
      As we head into the fourth year the world has lived with the coronavirus, the workforce shows no signs of returning to its pre-pandemic state. Regardless of how much some employers would like it to, the job market is too strong, and qualified candidates are in too high demand. But if the past year is any indication, we may very well see more catchy hashtags in the near future. After all, if we can’t control workplace trends, we can at least watch them go viral. Let’s look at a few possibilities.
      #ExtremeExiting
      In 2021, 47 million people quit their jobs in what we now know as the Great Resignation (one of the few trending terms that bores us even more than quiet quitting). Many expected these employees to come rushing back to the workforce in 2022, but it hasn’t happened. Instead, the resignations have continued, and though the pace has slowed, it’s done little to help employers who have faced an uphill battle restaffing their businesses in order to stay productive and profitable over the past two years.
      #HastyHiring
      Many employers are now faced with a difficult decision – hire fast or close up shop. For some businesses, this means relaxing their hiring requirements to accommodate a dwindling candidate pool. For others, it means not being able to provide the level of customer service they have in the past. And for nearly all, it means increased turnover rates as employees job hop their way to a higher income or better incentives offered by other employers desperate to fill roles.
      #RapidRecruiting
      More exiting and more hiring require more recruiting. But there are now nearly twice as many job openings in the U.S. as there are unemployed people, and the old “help wanted” sign doesn’t generate applications like it used to. This is where experienced recruiters and candidate sourcers will continue to prove their value to employers. As the strength of the current job market makes active recruiting (i.e., posting on job boards) less effective, employers will turn to the experts to passively recruit candidates who are currently employed in order to fill roles that once filled themselves.
      #EmployersAwakening
      More and more employers are now realizing what GM recently learned the hard way – try to get employees to return to a pre-pandemic work model and they’ll object…loudly. Insist that they return and watch them run for the door. Employees have been working remotely or hybrid for almost three years now. During that time, they have stayed productive, enjoyed the perks of a commute-free lifestyle, and prioritized work/life balance. Employers are awakening to the fact that the “new norm” is now the old routine, and those who disregard employees’ needs will soon find them working for competitors.
      None of these trends are new (at least not since the pandemic), but then neither is quiet quitting, which was known for years as employee disengagement. Regardless of what happens to the job market in the near future, two facts remain: people will continue to consume news through social media, and catchy, memorable hashtags make it a little more palatable and easier to follow and share. Will the next few months bring an #UnemploymentExodus, a #JobSeekerSurge, a #GreatRestaffing? Keep an eye on trending topics to find out!
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      in Employer

      8 Ways to Hire Faster & Build a Better Employer Brand

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      What You’ll Learn

      How to fill positions more efficiently through tools, templates, and moreThe partnership making hires an average of 11 days fasterThe strategy that took an offer acceptance rate from 60% to 88%

      About this eBook, 8 Ways to Hire Faster & Build a Better Employer Brand

      In a panel discussion led by Hired CTO Dave Walters, talent leaders from Gem, Tanium, NBCUniversal, and One Medical shared their thoughts on trends and best practices for optimizing the candidate experience.

      They reviewed how to improve the hiring process by strengthening the experience and by extension, the employer brand. Now, we are covering eight of their strategies to consistently help their teams fill tech and sales jobs efficiently. Use them to take action with your recruiting goals! More

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      in Employer

      Navigating Market Uncertainty: The State of Tech Hiring (VIDEO)

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      Watch this webinar-on-demand to hear in-depth analyses of the hiring market today, based on the 2022 State of Tech Salaries data report. Listen to meaningful conversations regarding hiring strategies, including the structure of compensation packages, flexible working models, and other talent initiatives.

      Hear from:

      Hired CEO Josh BrennerVP & GM, Employer Solutions for General Assembly Catie BrandHead of People, Virtru, Conley (Henderson) McIntyre and Director, Talent Acquisition, Markforged, Bryan Robinson.

      Download this collaborative panel discussion to discover: 

      Salary trends by role and years of experienceChanges in industry benchmarks such as average time-to-hireKey opportunities to win over top tech talent efficientlyImpact of global remote on tech talent hiring More

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      How Smart Companies are Solving Post-Lockdown Working (4 New Trends)

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      From ‘swarm teams’ to the metaverse, innovative ideas take on the challenges of the new world of work…

      In late 2021, Professor Lynda Gratton of the London Business School asked 150 executives from companies around the world for their take on the biggest challenge currently facing businesses. The answer came back loud and clear: “retaining people,” closely followed by “recruiting people.”

      It picked up on a problem destined to grow. The Great Resignation, the result of lockdown-fuelled dissatisfaction with our jobs was first. Then it was followed by the Great Reshuffle, as workers leapt from job to job in search of fulfillment. As we entered post-lockdown working, how would companies evolve?

      In May this year, the UK’s Office for National Statistics revealed that there were more job vacancies than unemployed people in the country for the first time since records began. The marketplace has since begun to settle, but a July survey of 1,100 US professionals showed that 31 percent were planning to quit within the next 12 months. In other words, employers still need to focus hard on hiring and keeping the best talent.

      Post-Lockdown Working at Home vs In-office

      According to Josh Brenner, CEO of Hired, the largest AI-driven recruitment marketplace for tech workers, what is most likely to attract and retain employees is the offer of flexible working. In a recent Hired survey, less than two percent of respondents wanted a full, five-day return to the office.

      “We’ve seen really high rates of attrition when companies have forced people back to the office for a full five-day schedule,” he says.

      With that comes the need to make the best of hybrid work, potentially across disparate geographies. In order to retain employees, companies also need to work harder to engage them. They need to help them feel aligned with the organization’s values, Brenner believes.

      “When we hear about companies losing high numbers of staff, a lot of it is because employees feel disconnected. They lack a solid understanding of where the company’s going, and how their work  bubbles up and contributes to goals.”

      Throw in the need to prepare for a fast-changing world – technologically, geo-politically – and you have a cluster of problems for companies to solve in post-lockdown working. Those that do so most effectively stand to gain a competitive advantage – so what are the most innovative trending ideas? 

      In WIRED’s report, readers learn about the:

      AI company that has done away with managers marketing company making a four-day week pay dividends professional services company using the metaverse to engage its workforcerise of a new C-suite role that’s re-shaping business… More

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      in Talent Acquisition

      How to Recruit in a Recession — From Someone Who Knows

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      As some industries make headlines for layoffs or hiring freezes over fears of a slowing economy (and potential recession), talent acquisition teams feeling market shifts firsthand may think their only option is to slow down with it.
      Many may even be looking positively at the opportunity for rest after the frenzied, white-knuckle pace of hiring over the last year has had recruiters burning the candle at both ends. While the space to take a momentary breather is much deserved, waiting out macroeconomic trends is not a safe strategy — for business or for job security as a TA pro.
      Hiring teams that have become too comfortable with a reactive, offer-letter-after-one-interview environment should be wary of waiting for the next shoe to drop. If you drift for too long, you risk being too far behind to catch up when it does.
      In short: The threat of a recession is not a reason to pause executing your talent strategy. Instead, think of it as permission to reset it, by resetting your mindset — from one that is reactive to one that is proactive.
      First, take that long weekend or vacation you’ve been putting off. When you’re back and refreshed, let’s look at what a proactive recruiting mindset can look like.
      10,000-foot view
      There are two important truths that come with a recession and its impact on hiring. Those of us who were here in 2008 can attest:

      No matter what, some companies will panic and eliminate headcount — this is normal.
      Because the market is more vulnerable, candidates will be more hesitant to switch jobs.

      By embracing these two truths, we can determine how a strategy may need to shift. For example, If your organization has removed all job posts, it’s time to refocus energy on bolstering your talent pipeline.
      And knowing that talent is going to be less laissez-faire about making a job switch, recruiters must prioritize creating and nurturing relationships — with confidence and trust — over dangling shiny objects.
      At a high level, this means recruiters will need to kick the habit of endless sourcing and get outside of their comfort zone to stay relevant with candidates. That’s a big change for at least 55% of recruiters, who say they spend the majority of their time sourcing, according to the recent State of Outbound Recruiting in 2022 report by hireEZ.
      3,000-foot view
      Change is tough, and easier said than done. As a former recruiter, I know how busy each day is. When you’re busy, you tend to stick to what you know: LinkedIn, job boards, copying and pasting the same email outreach that worked that one time. It’s hard to be productive when you’re buried under requisitions.
      Fortunately, a slowdown in hiring will provide the opportunity to make some changes — to become more proactive. To make it easier, here are a few ways to get started:
      Be more selective
      You likely now have more time to identify the best candidate — so take it. It will be key to look for opportunities to maximize the value brought to the job level as well as to broader business goals.
      At the job level, work with hiring managers to become familiar with the minutiae of any given role. What are the skills within the skills that are required? What kinds of tasks will the individual need to complete each day, each week, each month, each quarter? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current team dynamic? What capabilities or traits are desired outside of skills and knowledge? Are there any organizational changes coming that would impact whoever is in the role?
      At the business level, understanding how the best candidate fits can forward strategic objectives. Is the company focused on creating more leaders? Are there goals to improve company diversity by hiring more talent from underrepresented communities? Is the company interested in expanding its global footprint? What benefits or perks do you see competitors offering for similar roles?
      When you are ingrained in the needs for the role, beyond the job description, you can bring a much more nuanced set of requirements to the table when looking for the perfect match. And when you understand how the role will impact the business strategy deeply, you can ensure that the match will help drive the company forward.
      These proactive steps will help you choose candidates with such an increased level of detail that you’ll naturally improve engagement and retention for every hire.
      Nurture with more meaning
      In a recession, recruiters need to keep all candidates engaged so that they are always thinking about their company. Now is the time to get creative with how you nurture.
      Take the time to work on your craft and research your talent: Test new message styles, their length, and timing, and work at making your outreach personal. Ask yourself, what are they into? How do they like to communicate? Try to develop a message that is so customized for that individual that it wouldn’t work for anyone else. Think about how you can stand out from the other recruiters blowing them up.
      Consider adopting new technology that can help you maximize your existing databases. For example, test recruiting software that can clean up and enrich profiles in your ATS, so you can regain attention and interest from previous candidates and build a pipeline that’s prepared for the next busy season.
      Look for recruiting platforms that have engagement features built in, such as email sequencing and scheduling, so that you can reach highly qualified candidates directly, and plan your hyper-personalized outreach in advance.
      Scientists test hypotheses so that they can proactively set up an experiment to succeed. Be a scientist — test and experiment to set yourself up for success.
      Understand what works
      Sometimes data tells a very different story than what we tell ourselves. But it can be hard to find the time to take a look back at the information we have. Now’s the time for recruiters to look at what worked, what didn’t, and what questions you don’t have good answers for.
      Take a deep database dive to review past hires; see what trends surface that can help you reevaluate candidates for the future, and reassess KPIs. Did time to hire improve with candidates who had to go through fewer interviews? What changes to the hiring process impacted retention? Do you have an easier time getting responses when recruiting for more senior roles? What commonalities can you find about candidates who ghosted you?
      A solid talent strategy should also take into account what broader industry and competitive trends can reveal. Certain recruiting platforms now provide the ability to compare your company’s performance against competitors. Having insight into data like average salaries by functional area, popular geos for specific roles, or at what time talent might be more willing to make a change, can help you proactively optimize your approach for the future.
      1,000-foot view
      Breaking habits can be hard, but what better time to make changes in your approach to recruiting — to improve your game — than when the market is changing.
      When it comes to adopting a proactive mindset, the worst-case scenario is you increase your expertise and expand your capabilities. The best-case scenario is you have people ready to join your organization even before you’ve even sent out offer letters. Take it from someone who recruited in the last recession.
      Shannon Pritchett is Head of Community at both hireEZ and Evry1 (which she co-founded in 2021). Prior to joining hireEZ, she served in a variety of recruiting roles and later leveraged her industry experience and expertise to hold leadership positions at Moxy, SourceCon, CareerXroads, and beyond. As a talent acquisition leader, she remains passionate about connecting companies with their most valuable asset — people.
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