It’s no secret – the US is experiencing its biggest candidate market in a century. Companies across all industries are looking to hire and struggling to not only find the right candidates but find any applicants at all. The number of job openings is significant and continuing to grow. Plus, high turnover is making an already delicate situation worse.
Of course, talent will always be available for those companies that know how to find it and can offer competitive salaries, benefits and cultures. That fact has always remained true. But as the workforce has evolved and people’s demands have changed as a result of the pandemic, it’s forcing companies to rethink where they go to discover candidates, especially those with hard-to-find, specialty skills.
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That’s why Yoh recently conducted a survey through The Harris Poll among nearly 1,000 job-seeking Americans to find out where jobseekers are headed to find their next opportunity. For hiring managers and recruiters, some of the data reveals some interesting trends that may dictate how they go about attracting their next batch of candidates.
- Online. Not surprising, many people head online to start their search. Nearly three-quarters (67%) of job-seeking Americans (both those who are employed and not employed but looking) are using job boards to search for job opportunities, while just over half (51%) of that same group is using social media to find job opportunities.
- Word-of-mouth. The fact that job seekers head online to begin their job search shouldn’t come as a shock. However, relationships – in the form of word-of-mouth and recruiters – remain valuable tools for those looking for a new job or a job change. Just under half (48%) of employed and not employed job seekers are using word of mouth to find job opportunities. More than one-third (34%) of the highly-sought-after employed workers looking for jobs are actively using recruiters to find their next job. Compare this to 12% of those who are not employed but looking who are using a recruiter. Clearly, currently employed Americans aren’t just passive job seekers browsing job boards but are actively using their relationships with talent professionals to find their next job.
- Recruiters. High earners and college grads – those typically with harder-to-find skills – use recruiters at a higher rate than anyone. Understandably, it’s harder for highly skilled talent to find that ideal job than it is for those with more interchangeable skills. That’s why many choose to partner with recruiters to help them figure out their next move. College graduate job seekers are nearly twice as likely as those with only some college or a high school degree or less to use recruiters to find new job opportunities (45% vs. 24% and 22%). Additionally, job seekers with higher household income are more likely to use a recruiter to find new job opportunities than those with lower household incomes. In fact, 40% of job seekers with household income of $100,000 or more are using a recruiter compared to 36% with household income between $75,000-$99,999, 27% with household income between $50,000-$74,999, and 18% with household income under $50,000.
If this data tells us anything it’s this – employers should use multiple methods, strategies and resources to identify and secure the best talent available to build their teams. For those looking to find highly skilled candidates, it’s more important than ever to partner with talent experts who have deep candidate pools and have the experience it takes to secure these hard-to-find workers. The hiring landscape is changing faster than it ever has, and as we move forward, it will take a combination of out-of-the-box and tried-and-true strategies to fill those ever-growing talent gaps.