Recruiting Economic Update-The confusing numbers and what they mean for recruiters.

If you are confused by the weird, contradictory signals that are being sent out about the American economy at this moment, you are not alone. Typically, the challenge during recessions is businesses do not want to hire, and consumers do not want to spend. Right now, businesses want to hire, but they cannot find workers to fill the jobs they have. So are we heading to a recession or not?

Recessions, loosely defined, are all about too much supply and not enough demand. When demand exceeds supply–whether steel-toe boots in a boomtown, or restaurant seats after the pandemic–prices go up. 

In early 2020, almost overnight, Americans traded in restaurant meals for bread baked at home, swapped gym memberships for bike rides at a social distance. These changes caused massive disruption, partly because businesses were unwilling to invest long-term in order to meet a short-term surge in demand. “That is always going to create its own problems with prices and scarcity,” said Adam Ozimek, chief economist at Economic Innovation Group, a research organization based in Washington. Some of the other changes caused by the pandemic are likely to be more permanent. 

Consumer trust measures are at all-time lows, and overwhelmingly, Americans say they are unhappy with the economy. That perception is grounded in reality: High inflation is eating away at–and, in some cases, wiping out–the benefits of a strong labor market for many workers. Hourly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, are falling at their fastest rate in decades.

Impacts on the Recruiting Industry

With a sharp rise in the talent wars, coupled with dealing with a Great Resignation, where about four million Americans leave their jobs over an all-too-common basis, recruiters are left feeling burned out. Faced with a high turnover rate, recruiters are often put in difficult positions, left working longer hours, under heavier workloads, under greater stress and pressure. 

Companies struggling to win the talent game should focus on and attempt to alleviate recruiter burnout. You will not only increase the ROI of hiring, you will have a positive impact on your hiring teams work-life balance along the way, thus protecting your hiring team and ending recruiting burnout forever. Whether you are a C-level executive concerned for your hiring team, or you are a recruiter yourself, these tips and tricks can help you mitigate stress and avoid recruiter burnout. These are some ways to decrease the burnout and stress that recruiters are feeling these days, as well as tips for how your organization can do a better job in quickly filling positions with qualified candidates.

Employers are hiring, but are relying largely on one-time bonuses instead of steady wage increases. This makes sense considering many business leaders want to avoid high salaries and the potential headwinds expected during a recession.

As economies slow, some companies scale back hiring, while others view this as an opportunity to land the best talent at the lowest cost. The current metrics are confusing for most economist considering lower GDP and high inflation in the face of increased hiring and jobs added to the economy.

If the recession continues to create layoffs, be mindful companies usually do not make cuts to superstar candidates. Employers typically fall back on hiring candidates with prior experience in their field–but, once again, finding such candidates is not always an option in the new job market. Employers might feel that they are limited when looking for particular industry expertise, but this does not mean that qualified candidates are out there.

With unemployment numbers at a record low, recruiters are again looking for ways to bridge existing skills gaps and fill critical positions with qualified candidates. With the global market valued at approximately $200 billion, according to research by Bersin, recruitment has moved from being a business expense center into an important investment area, driven by the fact that three-quarters of CEOs believe the tightening job market and inability to recruit needed talent is the number-one business challenge facing them in 2019. 

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Even if you had a crystal ball, I don’t think you would be able to forecast the impacts of the economy. The Pandemic, Great Reshuffle and the other buzzwords have made fortune telling a little hard for all of us. My advice to recruiters is to stay close to your hiring managers, stay up to date on economic news, and be creative in attracting and retaining top talent.