Three Recruitment Trends That Could Affect Hiring in 2023
Julie Romero, HireRight's Chief Human Resources Officer, shares some of the key insights from HireRight's 15th Annual Benchmark Report that may impact hiring and screening practices for businesses worldwide in 2023.
2021 and 2022 were challenging years for many HR professionals, with recruiters still dealing with the pandemic’s impact, the emergence of “the great resignation” — or “the great rethink”— and a rapidly changing business environment. Those difficulties are far from going away. Looking to 2023, three prominent hiring themes will impact recruitment activity, according to HireRight's 15th Annual Benchmark Report:
1. Adapting to the candidate-led talent market
For many businesses, their candidates are now firmly in the driving seat. Our benchmark survey found that a competitive hiring environment led 57 percent of North American companies to increase their salaries or offer additional benefits to better reflect the expectations of their candidates and help with their recruitment efforts.
Plus, 36 percent said meeting candidates’ expectations for benefits or perks was going to be a significant talent acquisition challenge for their company in 2022, ranking second only behind finding qualified job candidates. Looking ahead, 40 percent said they see candidate benefit expectations as a long-term challenge over the next three years, again ranking it second behind finding qualified job candidates.
With this in mind, many organizations’ HR teams will have ongoing conversations about innovative and cost-effective ways to attract future employees, while also, crucially, retaining their existing workforce. If you are not already having these conversations, now is the time to start.
2. Social media as a recruitment and screening tool
Social media has long been a part of the recruitment mix for many organizations. But HR professionals saw it as a more important channel for attracting talent in 2022 than in 2021.
Globally, survey respondents said they expected social media to be the third most effective recruitment channel in 2022, behind online job boards and referrals. LinkedIn and Facebook were rated as the most-used social media channels for recruitment in 2022, as was the case in 2021.
In addition to using social media as a talent acquisition channel, over a quarter (28 percent) of North American respondents admitted to reviewing their candidates’ public social media profiles prior to interview as part of the recruitment process. While many may see this as standard practice, employers should be careful to avoid viewing an individual’s protected characteristics or class information—including their race, religion or sexual orientation – as these factors must not be considered when making any employment decisions. For employers with a curiosity about their candidates’ social media activity, it may be worth considering a third-party social media search as part of your background screening program.
3. Locally tailored background screening programs
Global background screening programs will often vary by location, taking into consideration local data privacy laws, cultural norms and availability of services. Businesses that conduct background screening around the world should be wary of these nuances and partner with a screening provider (or providers) with knowledge of the local markets in which they operate.
HireRight’s survey found previously undisclosed criminal convictions were discovered by over a third of North American respondents (37 percent) while conducting background checks. However, in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, the percentages of employers finding undisclosed criminal convictions were much lower (around 20 percent).
Outside the United States, employment and education discrepancies were the most common issues found during background checks. Two-thirds of Asia-Pacific respondents (66 percent) and over half of those in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (53 percent) reported finding discrepancies during their candidates’ employment verifications. That’s why verifying a candidate’s employment history is the most common pre-employment check conducted in these regions.
With the potential cost of a bad hire being so high — especially when considering recruitment and training costs, salaries and even potential reputational damage — it is important to consider where candidate discrepancies may be more likely to occur. This enables you to tailor your background screening program locally to help mitigate these risks.
HireRight’s 15th Annual Benchmark Report compares key differences in background screening, talent acquisition, and remote working trends in North America, EMEA and APAC, as well as providing a summary of key data privacy legislation around the world impacting background screening. Read the Report for more insights from Julie Romero.
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