Recruitment levels have been extremely unstable throughout the pandemic, and macroeconomic factors such as the conflict in Ukraine and the rise of inflation are still having a huge impact on the market. We take a quick look at what trends we have seen and take a look at how they may play out in 2022.
Hesitant job seekers
The recruitment market has seen job numbers shoot up significantly as we have moved beyond the pandemic. However, labour demand is outpacing supply with the growth in roles not being matched by job seeker activity.
This reduced movement from job seekers can be put down to a myriad of reasons including PUP payments, a lack of net migration, the great re-evaluation or security in existing jobs. However, this inertia is slowly beginning to change.
Inflation and the cost of living
With inflation forecast by the ESRI to run at an average of 6.7% for the year, we are beginning to see the impact of inflation on job seekers. As the cost of living bites, more people may opt to change jobs in search of a better salary. In fact, in our recent World of Work survey of 6,200 people, 70% said that inflation had already pushed them to look for a new job. While our independent research of over 1,000 people, carried out by iReach, showed that 30% of people plan on changing jobs this year, up 7% from December 2021.
Even if people don’t move jobs, they may look to change how they work by cutting commuting costs and working remotely. It’s possible that inflation may, in time, replace Covid-19 as a key factor driving up the number of roles offering remote work as people try to cut down on commuting and other costs associated with working from the office. In fact, working from home vacancies continue to grow at a faster rate than overall vacancies.
Attracting talent
We have already seen this too from job seekers in our World of Work survey with 52% of people actively saying hybrid work is their preferred work structure. As the realities of inflation set in, salary will become more important and is already the top priority for job seekers when looking for a new role.
Throughout 2022 we should see the stabilisation of the recruitment market as jobs and job seekers rebalance. With the cost of living concerns only set to rise as we move through the year, it’s clear that employers looking to attract and retain people in today’s market should continue to prioritise flexible working and benchmark salaries in order to meet the evolving needs of existing employees and prospective candidates within their field.
