We were happy that Vanessa Raath, the founder of The Talent Hunter, joined us as the second guest speaker for Teamdash’s end-of-the-year webinar (available on demand on Livestorm). Here, you can read the insights and findings from the first speaker, Kaarel Holm, from MeetFrank.
We have included insights and conclusions drawn by looking at the data from the Teamdash platform and predictions from 15 recruitment experts at the end of this blog article.
Without further ado, let’s give Vanessa the floor.
Who is Vanessa Raath, The Talent Hunter?
Vanessa is a global talent-sourcing trainer who trains teams worldwide on how to be more effective in their work. If anyone is tired of finding local job boards, spending a fortune on LinkedIn Recruiter and needing better insights on where and how to find the right talent, Vanessa is the person to contact.
This year, Vanessa also built an online academy and offers free training. She is also a recruitment, personal branding, and talent attraction consultant. Additionally, she is a keynote speaker who recently gave the opening keynote at the Sourcing Summit in Amsterdam.
When not working or giving speeches, she likes taking photos and runs a Facebook group and a YouTube channel. She calls her ADHD her superpower and currently resides in beautiful South Africa. Follow Vanessa on LinkedIn and visit her website for regular recruitment and talent acquisition expertise.
Recruitment landscape in 2023, Vanessa’s insights
2023 was an exciting year in the recruitment world.
- The big announcement and shock in 2023 was Generative AI, launched in November 2022. It was available for all and was, therefore, quickly adopted – it significantly impacted recruitment and many businesses. It was disruptive for some industries, like the creative industry and UX jobs like content writers and copywriting. Not only will it affect how we recruit but who we recruit.
- The recession moved across from the US to Europe and had a bigger impact this year than in previous years. There was a reduction in hiring volumes for many companies, and we saw layoffs in the tech space.
- What was a candidate-driven market during COVID has now become an employee-driven market.
- There is also a global skills shortage, which means a growing skills gap in 2024 and the future. It was more prevalent in the tech space – when looking for people who know specific coding languages. We must build a training and upskilling machine to close the gap.
- Recruiters are affected by the economic recession and layoffs. More tech talent is available in the market due to layoffs, but they are not recruited since it has become an employee-driven market. Employees would rather take pay cuts than lose their jobs. And therefore, as the recruitment needs are lower in many sectors, recruiters have also lost their jobs. Recruiters are focusing on cross-skilling and moving on to other industries.
- After COVID, there was a huge demand for recruiters due to the war for talent, now it is the opposite. The predictions are that the recruiters market will never return to that point or pre-COVID levels. It means staying relevant and up-to-date with the skills needed in the market, adopting technologies and bringing your advantages over AI to the table.
Vanessa Raath’s predictions for recruitment in 2024
- Generative AI is here to stay. Resourceful and intelligent recruiters are not going to lose their jobs. Still, they can use AI and automation to get tedious administrative tasks off their tables and can make their recruitment process more effective. It is a good thing when used correctly. The same fear was around LinkedIn, but as we all know, it didn’t take recruiters’ jobs. Vanessa predicts that Virtual Reality will become a thing in 6 months to reduce the concerns and worries around the assessment process.
- Automation and recruitment will become more prevalent in 2024 as these apps and software powered by generative AI will start communicating with each other. Recruiters will be far slicker in their processes, and it will free up even more time. So, it will benefit all if recruiters are sensible and use the time to be more human and spend more time talking with candidates.
- The global recession will continue. There are still the effects of the global pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. We don’t have control over their effect on the economy. Next year is also a year for general elections in many countries, and we will see their effect on the economy and politics.
- The market is not as buoyant as before. There will be more hiring in some areas of the world and a greater need for recruiters there, specifically in Asia and Africa. That means a greater focus on businesses and growing economies.
- Increased pressure for alignment in Data Analytics and Recruitment. Instead of being a recruiter turning around and saying something like,”No, I can’t find people with those skills because only three exist in the country,” you present the data. These are the three people – we are working with these, or they are only working in specific locations or terms. If you’ve got a client paying a salary that is too low and you need to get them to raise the salary, this is the evidence and data you can use to support your needs.
Vanessa also participated in our expert roundup article for predictions for 2024. You can read all the predictions here.
The state of work in 2024
- Hybrid
- Remote
- 4-day work weeks
- More focus on mental health and work-life balance
- There’s a greater need for recruiters to be more Human and focus on personalisation and relationship-building
- Video, especially TikTok, is becoming a part of recruitment. It’s the fastest-growing social network for a reason
- Employer branding is a must-have, not a nice-to-have
These aspects affect a recruiter’s work and the new expectations to consider when posting new job offers or sourcing for talent.
Candidates are looking for hybrid, remote, and more flexible work arrangements that give them a good work-life balance. Some candidates prefer coming to the office, e.g., think of new moms or dads who can’t have enough space and time to focus.
People are now, more than ever, looking for fulfilling work that supports their mental health instead of bringing in the bank. Luckily, companies are taking mental health seriously and focusing on workplace happiness.
As it is harder to attract and retain talent paired with the global skills shortage, employer branding has already become a must-have in 2023. Companies need to think more about attracting talent, how it has to come from the top, the CEO, and how every employee is an employer brand ambassador. It is not the responsibility of the recruitment and talent-sourcing teams. Yes, they play a big part in it as they are often the first to contact the candidates. However, the company has to be involved to have a strong employer brand.
The webinar poll results
The main focus in recruitment for 2024?
- AI and automation (27%)
- Candidate experience (20%)
- Cost-savings (20%)
Personal brand for recruiters
Personal brand will play a huge part and role in employer brand building. It not only helps you attract candidates, but it also works as a trust builder or can be used for cross-referencing. Candidates will check you out on Facebook or LinkedIn when you email them. They can check mutual connections and sometimes even decide whether they will respond to you or not.
As much as you are running a Google search on the candidates, they are also Googling you. That means that your digital footprint as a recruiter is becoming increasingly important.
When you are shy or hesitant about building your personal or employer brand, there are various formats you can start with. It doesn’t have to be video, and you don’t have to be in it. You can ask hiring managers or future colleagues to film or share their experiences.
You can send a 1-on-1 video via inMail rather than posting it in your feed. You will likely get a more positive result by posting authentic content than by sending bulk messages to 50 candidates.
The biggest surprises of 2023
The massive impact that AI has had, and how many people have used it poorly. People were creating content and LinkedIn posts and even writing books. Everyone thought they were an author. Using ChatGPT for these purposes is okay, but many people ignored their prompts and ended up with poor, robot-sounding outputs and results. No one speaks like ChatGPT in the real world.
They forgot the purpose of their content and how attracting talent and building a strong employer brand require authenticity and relationship-building. It should be used as an assistant or to help create ideas, not to speak or communicate for you.
Recruitment insights for 2024 from Teamdash ATS
We collected data from the Teamdash platform and noticed some trends and changes this year compared to 2022.
- According to the data, the hiring volumes for Teamdash users did not change last year.
- However, we saw a decrease of 33% in time-to-hire. This decrease can be attributed to the highest hiring volumes in retail, transport, logistics and healthcare sectors, where time-to-hire is one of the key metrics and focus areas.
- Automation has become a part of everyday recruitment for over half of the employers on the platform. Recruiters are scheduling interviews automatically and using automated messages. There’s a significant increase in usage of those automatic features and tools in the public sector (19%), retail (30%), and transport, IT and logistics sectors.
We also asked 15 recruitment experts across EMEA to share their insights to combine them with what we see happening on the Teamdash platform:
- Employer branding has become especially important. Low retention rates will remain a problem, and attracting and retaining top talent is crucial. This means standing out among other employers with a positive candidate experience, strong EVP, and an authentic employer brand with transparent communication.
- Employers are looking to increase cost efficiency. This means adopting a customisable ATS with strong automation, AI-powered solutions, and accurate and timely data reporting.
- The candidates maintain an upper hand in the job market. Even though we see a rise in applications, the same candidates apply to multiple employers. Keeping the candidates in the pipeline will be a challenge – speed and transparency in communication in the hiring process is critical.
- AI, automation and an ATS are a must in 2024. These tools won’t replace recruiters – they leave more time to spend creating a personal experience for the candidates, providing better feedback, collaborating with hiring managers and analysing processes. As we say at Teamdash – the goal for automation is to automate actions and not decisions.
Book a demo to see how Teamdash can boost your recruitment efforts in 2024 and beyond.
