According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ “Employment Situation – December 2018,” the national unemployment rate is 3.9 percent. While this is great for the nation, it makes hiring increasingly difficult for employers. If you’re an employer and have found it difficult to fill your open positions, one way to make the process easier is enlisting the help of recruiters.

The current job market is in favor of the job seeker. Given the low rate of unemployment, candidates can pick and choose what jobs to apply to, as many are currently already employed and just casually looking for new opportunities. Because of this, hiring can be seen as an uphill battle and a burden for many human resources departments. To put this in perspective, let’s take a look at some of today’s hiring statistics:

• 42 percent of employers are worried they won’t be able to find the talent they need.
• 86 percent of the most qualified candidates for your open positions are already employed and not actively seeking a new job.
• 26 percent of candidates feel the hiring process takes too long, and;
• 46 percent feel their time is disrespected during an interview.

By enlisting the help of recruiters, human resources professionals can focus on other responsibilities that the company requires. Since the job of recruiters is to find and place top talent in open roles, they can focus all their efforts on the hiring needs of their corporate clients and alleviate their stress in addition to speeding up the interview process for their candidates.

According to our very own Chris Bancsi, NexGoal’s VP of Sales and Recruiting:

“With the unemployment rate so low, employers are hurriedly getting offers out to candidates and counter-offers to current employers who have accepted other positions. In this job market, potential employees need to be identified, interviewed and extended competitive employment offers at an expedited pace. Employers don’t have weeks to make a decision, they have days. It has become a ‘if you snooze, you lose’ mentality.”

At NexGoal, we work with corporate clients of various sizes. Big companies may struggle with their hiring practices just as small-to-medium size companies do. Although the reasons for these struggles may vary, companies of all sizes rely on recruiters to find quality candidates for their open positions.

When the competition for open positions is so fierce, recruiters can do three things to help employers with their hiring needs, according to Inc.com.

Think Globally, Recruit Globally

Although not every company is willing to hire international talent, especially smaller companies, this tip can be broken down to a smaller scale. For example, if your company is in Chicago and the local candidate pool is dwindling, recruiters can search elsewhere for the best candidate.

Larger companies with higher budgets might be more willing to expand their search for talented candidates. When this is the case, recruiters can tap into the international candidate pool to fill these open positions. Not only will the client get a great candidate, but they can also improve diversity of thought, experience and culture within the company.

In the Cleveland area, hiring globally is a hot topic. The primary focus from a technology perspective is trying to keep local talent in the area

Pony Up More Perks Rather Than Pay

Employees look for new jobs for a variety of reasons: higher salaries, better benefits and shorter commute to name a couple. When putting in a two-weeks’ notice, it is common for employers to counter-offer whatever a new company is offering their employee. However, one of the most underrated workplace perks is a work-life balance.

While 68 percent of candidates still consider compensation (salary + insurance benefits) as the main factor when weighing their opportunities, additional benefits are becoming increasingly popular. These include: flexible schedules, work-from-home options and professional development opportunities. Employers don’t want to take the time to interview a candidate just to find out that the salary and benefits expectations and actual offerings aren’t aligned. Candidates echo this sentiment, with 46 percent feeling that their time is “disrespected” during an interview. By working with a recruiter, candidates can be pre-screened before being sent to the client. This means that only qualified candidates with expectations in line with the employer will be sent over to be interviewed, thus limiting the waste of time.

Be Willing to Teach New Skills

These days, candidates are more career-driven than previous generations. While Millennials tend to get a bad rap, they are the largest segment in the work force. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this generation will make up 50 percent of the US workforce in the next two years. That number will grow to 75 percent by 2030. As a result, employers need to be willing to teach new skills. Candidates in this generation will seek opportunities that offer career development opportunities (seminars, conferences, webinars, lunch and learns, etc.).

If your company provides career development strategies for its employees, communicate this with the recruiter. He or she will be able to paint a picture of your company and pitch it to potential candidates to pique their interest and excitement before you ever meet them.

Wrap Up

The record-low unemployment rate is a great thing for today’s society. More people have jobs so they’re able to provide for their families and make a decent living. However, considering how many people have jobs, employers are struggling to woo candidates to work for them when they already have a steady job that they are comfortable in.

If you’re an employer struggling to meet your hiring expectations, it is time to consider working with a third-party recruiter. Not only do these individuals understand the struggles of hiring during low unemployment, but they take the burden of the hiring process off the shoulders of the company. As Bancsi put it, “Companies need to factor in the cost of vacancy and ask themselves, ‘How much money are we losing with no one in this position? What services are we not being able to provide without this employee?’ NexGoal and companies like us can devote multiple resources to each position in order to get a rapid turnaround time at mitigate losses endured by vacancy.”

Ready to enlist the help of a recruiter and learn more about NexGoal? Schedule a call with Chris today!

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