This is the first part of a three blog series on “The Future of Recruitment” by our Gigged.AI CEO, Rich Wilson. Rich is a former recruiter at Allegis Group and associate at Gartner.
The Future of recruitment is evolving rapidly, driven by technological advancements and shifts in workplace norms. As we look toward the future of recruitment, several key trends come to the fore, promising to reshape how employers find and secure top talent.
Most of these showed up in Gartner’s Future of Work trends for 2023.
- Quiet Hiring: This is the concept of adding new skills without making full-time hires. Over 30% of firms have hiring freezes at the moment so this is an important trend. Quiet hiring is the combination of internal mobility, up skilling and contingent hiring.
- Data-Driven Recruitment: Data analytics is becoming increasingly vital in recruitment, enabling employers to make informed decisions based on insights drawn from big data. Machine learning algorithms can process vast amounts of data, uncover patterns and trends, and predict future outcomes, thus enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of recruitment strategies.
- Remote Working and Global Talent Pools: The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the viability of remote work, leading many businesses to continue offering remote roles. This shift expands the available talent pool from local or regional to global, requiring recruiters to adapt their strategies to this broader and more diverse set of candidates.
- Increased Focus on Employer Branding: As the competition for top talent intensifies, companies will need to focus more on their employer brand to attract and retain employees. This includes showcasing their work culture, values, and benefits through various channels, including social media, to engage potential candidates.
- AI and Machine Learning in Recruitment: The use of AI and machine learning in recruitment goes beyond initial screening and interview scheduling. Future advancements may include AI-powered tools that match candidates with roles based on skill compatibility, and tools that predict candidate success based on past performance data.
- Emphasis on Soft Skills: While hard skills remain essential, there’s a growing recognition of the importance of soft skills, such as creativity, communication, and emotional intelligence. As automation and AI continue to perform more technical tasks, these uniquely human attributes will become more valuable.
- Diversity and Inclusion: Increasing awareness and societal demand for diversity and inclusion will drive recruiters to reassess their strategies. Businesses will be expected to demonstrate a commitment to diverse hiring practices, making use of technology and data analytics to ensure their processes are unbiased and inclusive.
- Sharing Enterprise: This is a Gigged.AI concept where in the next 5 years companies keep smaller talent benches that they share with other enterprises through integration internal mobility platforms e.g I have excess capacity in my data team, instead of layoffs I lend them to a non-competitor at a fixed cost or day rate. Sounds crazy but is closer than we think.
- Adoption of Virtual Reality (VR) in Recruitment: With the advancements in VR technology, it’s anticipated that recruiters will adopt VR for virtual job tours, skills assessment, and even immersive interviews, providing a unique and engaging candidate experience.
The future of recruitment will be characterised by a blend of technology and human touch. AI and data analytics will provide efficiency and deep insights, but the importance of human judgment and interpersonal connections will remain central to recruitment success. In the Future of Recruitment, recruiters will need to be able to leverage technology to automate tasks and identify top talent, while also using their own skills and experience to build relationships with candidates and make informed hiring decisions.
Check out our next blog in the series on the role of the recruiter.
