Recruiting News Update: What’s happening and what to do about it

Here’s your around the world in two minutes!

🍻 and 🚬 tell a story

The high rate of inflation has forced American consumers of both alcoholic beverages and tobacco products to shift away from Budweiser and Marlboro and toward cheaper, lower-priced brands like Icehouse and Eagle 20, according to one report. Retailers are reporting customers are increasingly choosing less expensive beer brands like Busch Light, Icehouse, and Milwaukees Best Ice. 

In the four weeks ending July 2, retail sales of cheap beers were up 5.4% over the same time frame a year ago, according to Nielsen data commissioned by beer industry consulting firm Bump Williams Consulting Co. The research was cited by The Wall Street Journal. By contrast, sales of cheap beers at the retail level fell 10.9 percent last year. 

Sales in these two areas show the workforce is still stressed but now even more so because of inflation. Read more recent news about inflation here: Recruiting Economy News: Beer, Cigarettes, The Mighty Dollar and more

A WTH Moment with Recent Economic News

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.

If you want to know the impact on recruiting, read the rest of the article here: Recruiting Economic Update-The confusing numbers and what they mean for recruiters.

The Love/Hate with AI In Recruiting

There is a love/hate/curiosity involving the subject of AI in recruiting. Personally, I lean more towards the curiosity of the positive impacts AI can have in the recruiting industry but I am hyper aware it will not solve all. I have written a lot about the positive impact of AI in recruiting but I think it’s time to have a hard discussion about when to and when not to involve AI.

Here are some of the positives and negatives to consider when implementing AI in recruiting: The AI Dilemma In Recruiting

Recruiting Leaders are STRESSED

Businesses have become acutely aware of the importance of talent acquisition and retention since the pandemic and its friends inflation, talent shortage and the Great Reshuffle. While the attention has been great for the function, I talk a number of fellow talent leaders who reached the fever pitch level of stress about 18 months ago. I wish I could say it’s leveled out but it seems this has become the new normal for those of us in Talent Leadership.

Why is the job so much more stressful? Here are four insights driving the stress and blood pressure level of your Talent Director.

4 Reasons Why Talent Acquisition Leaders have the Most Stressful Job