Employers are preparing for an epic talent war this year as recruiting and hiring continues to be the top challenge for HR professionals for the second consecutive year.
Around nine in 10 employers said recruiting and hiring will continue to be challenging in 2022; making the tight labour market and the Great Resignation even more challenging for the recovering economy, according to XpertHR. In fact, 89% of HR leaders said recruiting and hiring will be either “somewhat” or “very” challenging for their HR function, revealed XpertHR’s Survey of HR Challenges for 2022. Employee retention (79%), workforce planning (67%) and vaccine mandates (66%) were also among the most challenging issues facing the HR function in the new year, according to the report.
GROWING WORKFORCE
Yet, despite these concerns, approximately two-thirds (69%) of employers expect their workforces to grow in 2022. Organisations appear to be more bullish concerning the size of their workforce than they were one year ago, noted the report. The percentage of employers expecting to expand their workforce increased to 69% compared to 48% in last year’s survey.
“While employers foresee challenges recruiting talent, a majority also anticipate growing their workforce; making the labour shortage even more of an acute pain point,” explained Amanda Czepiel, Head of Content at XpertHR. To counter these challenges, employers:
- Plan to increase salaries and hourly wages for incoming workers (60%); while 66% intend to increase salaries and hourly wages for existing employees.
- Expect to increase flexible work options; such as hybrid, fully remote or flexible hours for new hires (48%) and existing staff (44%).
- Will increase advertising around job vacancies (44%).
RETENTION TACTICS
Employee retention tactics also include opportunities to develop employees’ careers within their roles (through certifications/training) and increasing employee engagement initiatives; both of which were cited by 53% of respondents.
“These recruitment and retention efforts are natural next steps and are consistent with what we’ve seen from employers eager to overcome the labor shortage,” added Czepiel. She cited XpertHR’s latest Salary Budget Survey, which projected a median salary budget increase of 3% across all three employee groups covered by the survey (exempt; non-exempt; and officers/executives). In that survey, 79% organisations also cited recruitment/retention as an upward pressure on total salary budgets for the coming year.
Experts also believe that the war for talent will trigger unprecedented employee rewards to attract and retain talent in 2022. Click here to read more.
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