In a recent press release, people- and money-management solution provider Workday, Inc. announced findings from its semi-annual Global Workforce Report, which looked at data from a poll of over 1,000 respondents in July 2024, to help understand ongoing labor market and hiring trends. Here are a few of the report’s key findings.
Labor Market Leverage Shifting to Employers
It seems like the labor market has whipsawed considerably over the last several years. While employees have had a run at historic leverage in their job search for some time during and since the pandemic, the Workday report suggests the pendulum is swinging back toward employers. For instance, the number of job applications is growing four times as fast as the number of job openings.
“While companies are hiring more, they’re also receiving a flood of applications, making it harder for employers to select the right candidate and for employees to stand out,” says Workday in its press release. “This intense competition is pushing employers to become even more selective, with 72% of leaders raising the bar for qualifications and experience. This trend shows no signs of slowing down, as 59% of leaders say this is likely to continue for the next year, creating a challenging landscape for job seekers, while employers struggle to find efficient and fair ways to hire the best talent.”
Top Talent Remains Attrition Risk
While this pendulum shift represents the general trend in the labor market as a whole, it’s not consistent across all workers. In fact, top performers remain a significant attrition risk for companies, as those high-quality workers continue to look for better opportunities.
“Even though overall employee turnover has been low, data shows that top performers are most likely to leave: 75% of the industries tracked saw an increase in the loss of high-potential employees,” says Workday. “This is a big challenge for the 50% of companies already struggling to keep their best people.”
AI Becoming Increasingly Crucial for HR
The workday report also highlights the growing importance of AI in hiring. “Most leaders (70%) say AI will make hiring more fair, and 89% believe it will make their hiring processes more efficient. It’s no wonder that most companies (77%) plan to use AI in hiring even more in the coming year. The most popular ways they’re using it now include testing candidates’ skills (26%), screening resumes and applications (26%), and automating repetitive tasks (24%).”
The Workday report illustrates that while the overall labor market is becoming more favorable to employers, top performers are an outlier and represent an important attrition risk. Additionally, companies are relying ever more heavily on AI to help manage their recruitment work.
Lin Grnesing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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