The Impact of a Tight Labor Market on Background Checks

Job growth has been on a steady upswing in the U.S. over the last decade, and now the number of unfilled positions exceeds the labor pool.

In 2018, businesses created an average of 210,000 new jobs while unemployment fell to 3.7%. Wages, which have long stagnated, are finally starting to rise.

This tight labor market is creating a challenge for employers who are aggressively competing for qualified employees, and organizations are finding there are simply not enough candidates for them to consider and that they need to “cast a wider net,” to fill positions.This shift in risk tolerance has a significant impact on the background check process. 

In this paper, we look at:

• The impact of low unemployment on recruiting
• Changes to the hiring and screening process 
• What employers need to know about the candidate experience