The Great Resignation Continues

A recent study by PwC has found that the Great Resignation has not slowed down as presumed. As the cost-of-living crisis in the UK deepens, more and more people are job-seeking for roles that offer more competitive compensation. 1 in 4 employees said they were likely to change jobs in the next 12 months when the study was conducted in the summer of 2023, which was a shocking 19% rise from 2022.

The study also found that one in five workers (21%) now work multiple jobs, with 69% doing so because they need additional income. The share of workers with multiple jobs is higher for Gen Z (30%) and ethnic minorities (28%), leading to overwork and burnout.

What does this mean for recruitment?

As talent continues to seek better opportunities for themselves, HR & Recruitment team are likely to see an increase in applicant numbers for their vacancies. But this doesn’t mean that your organisation is now guaranteed to be swimming in top-notch applicants putting themselves forward for every vacancy you post.

It’s crucial to remember that the reason the study found the great resignation trend has endured is because people expect more from the workplace – but if you’re not offering that much more than the role they’re trying to leave, then chances are you won’t see the flood of talented candidates you may be hoping for. Instead, this is an opportunity to consider how your organisation can best position themselves to appeal to these candidates within this specific context.

Update your strategy

As there will be lots of competition amongst the talent applying for vacancies at your business it will be important for your hiring team to refresh their ideal candidate criteria, as chances are more of the job applicants will meet your current criteria, making it more difficult for you to whittle down.

However, don’t do this to the detriment of candidate experience. For example, if you introduce more interview rounds to try and decide between candidates it can often just reflect an indecisive hiring team, and requesting a high number of candidates to carry out unpaid work when most of them won’t ever receive an offer from you will burden the already stressed candidates and damage employer brand. Instead, consider collaborating between key departments of leadership, HR, recruitment, and the hiring team to create some new application questions specific to the experience your organisation would benefit from.

These can then be used early on in the process to prevent candidates feeling their time was wasted. Hireserve’s Killer Question feature can be perfect for this, as it dramatically cuts time-per-hire and reduces the amount of unsuitable applications your team has to work through.

Are you competitive?

Competition between candidates may be tough, but the whole reason they’ve gone to market is because their dissatisfied with their current role and are seeking high compensation and appreciation and recognition. So now is the time to re-consider what you’re offering your people.

Is your benefits package strong? Do you offer competitive salary? What is your culture like when it comes to respecting work-life balance? What can you offer talent to make up for where you may lack? No organisation is a perfect fit for everyone – different companies suit different people. This Great Resignation is spurred by a need for higher compensation and burnout in people’s current roles, so looking at what you can offer in these specific respects to effectively target this current trend of job seekers is the key. Greater security during a cost-of-living crisis can come in many forms – private healthcare, covering the costs of childcare or food shops, as well as a competitive salary.

Is your tech up to the job?

To cope with the higher volume of applicants, your process and technology tools have to be able to support your needs. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew did not have any recruitment software in place and were manually processing upwards of 10,000 applications a year. RBG Kew implemented Hireserve ATS in 2014. Since then, the HR & Recruitment team has been able to automate almost every element of their recruitment administration.

Since implementing Hireserve ATS, RBG Kew have been able to make a tangible cost-saving of around £16,000/annum due to reduced administrative work. That wasn’t all – traditionally it would take RGB Kew 5 minutes to read an application form. With c.50 applicants being completely unsuitable, the Killer Questions function was able to save up to 5 hours of painful shortlisting!

Read the full case study here.