Recruiting trends we see moving into 2023

Posted January 30th, 2023

We’ve experienced many changes in the past three years and 2023 may prove no different, amid an unstable economy. But post-pandemic, as we transition to more of a normal state there are still shifts that we need to adjust to. If anything, we are much more prepared than we were back in 2020. We’ve grown used to the unpredictable and it doesn’t faze us like it once did. Our pivoting skills have greatly improved. We may be looking at uncertain economic situations, but we’ll adapt easier, more skillfully and quicker than before.

The popularity of automation continues to grow as predicted. Smaller workforces and the growing need for speed have secured this trend. The automation technology that we’ve become familiar with will improve to speed processes and take more of the weight of administrative tasks off recruiters. 

The use of AI in staffing and recruiting continues to ramp up, growing most notably in the area of sourcing. Data-driven recruiting will continue to become more critical as the need for leveraging the data in our databases takes a top priority. 

Internal mobility is a term we’re hearing more of as the value of existing employees rises. With that, candidate and employee engagement will gain momentum as the need for outreach and automated, yet personal touchpoints become necessary. 

Finally, best-of-breed tech stack solutions working together within the ATS give the system flexibility and scalability while allowing for the growth of talent pools. They will become more popular as the demand for talent rises.

The steady growth of automation 

The traditional method of manually sorting through resumes and applications and entering them into a system is waning as automation secures a stronger foothold in the recruiting process. The hiring process of 2023 and beyond demands a solution that can manage multitudes of data pouring in from a variety of sources, in many different forms. 

Humans just aren’t built to handle this volume with as much speed and accuracy as automation can offer. Adding remote workers to the equation only adds more challenges to an already difficult situation. 

ATS and CRM can handle a certain amount of recruitment automation, but for greater accuracy and real automated workflow improvement, best-of-breed marketplace data loading and managing solutions built specifically for this can be integrated to greatly increase the power behind the system.

One of the most popular features of automated recruitment technology is resume parsing which extracts the data from resumes, CVs and applications and converts it to a form computers can understand. These parsed documents are then automatically loaded into the system, making processing quicker and easier, without manual intervention.

To make more placements the need for efficiency in the recruitment process can and will continue to be improved upon through automation.

AI recruitment technology 

Recruiting trends in 2023 are expected to be heavily influenced by intelligent technology. This technology is revolutionizing the way recruiters source, screen and select candidates for job openings.

AI in sourcing candidates comes in the form of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML). Recruiters who are new to the industry and veterans alike find the ease of natural language searches that build Boolean on the back end to be a much easier process. Having features that suggest or expand terms and save collections are the cherry on top. 

With AI-based candidate sourcing, searching and matching becoming more popular among recruiters, candidates that match requirements can be found more accurately and efficiently than ever before. These tools significantly reduce recruiter time spent searching for the right talent while improving the quality of their hires.

Although the primary benefit of AI recruitment is saving time, another advantage is finding better, more qualified candidates for openings with relative ease. Although the cost involved in implementing AI software may seem high, the return on investment greatly outweighs the price. 

Distinguishing what true AI is has become a complexity thrown into the mix, as it can be hard to tell what’s real AI from what’s simply a good marketing pitch. The key here is research and asking the right questions. Answers should involve a clear explanation as to how it is termed “AI” and how the algorithm works.

The trend toward intelligent recruitment will only continue to grow in the coming years, with AI tools searching, matching and filtering candidates, helping recruiters identify the best candidates quickly and efficiently.

Data-driven recruiting: clean and accurate data and what it means

In 2023, data-driven recruiting will continue to gain more traction. Organizations will use data-driven insights to gain a deeper understanding of the recruitment process.

Analytics and data that identifies strengths and weaknesses are relied on to determine a return on investment in staff, services and technology in the hiring process. The past practices of guesswork are being shelved for the hard facts behind collected data.

With the advent of the ATS and data-collecting software, the unscientific approach to determining recruitment success is quickly fading. It is evident through this data what part of the recruitment process is working and what isn’t. With it, you can determine if recruiters are using tools and resources, which job boards are most effective, top performers, productivity rates and all kinds of other metrics on which to base ROI. 

LinkedIn identifies some measurable metrics to track in a handy cheat sheet. The metrics they mention are:

  • Source of hire
  • Cost per hire
  • New hire performance
  • Job offer rates
  • Qualified applicants per hire
  • Careers page conversion rates
  • Time to fill
  • Application conversion rates
  • Candidate feedback
  • Resignations and other turnover rates
  • Percentage of bad hires
  • Referral source per candidate
  • New hire time to productivity

This means suitable tracking for data collecting should be put in place so that you can measure your strategy's efficacy accurately and modify your course of action should things go off track.

Once the data is evident, changes can be made to recruitment strategies to improve future ROI. But the key is to stay on top of the data. Quarterly, if not monthly monitoring and reviews are essential to staying on course, and ensuring success.

Internal mobility and moving from within

With the changes and shifts in the recruitment landscape, the need for sourcing candidates in new ways has grown. Companies are increasingly focusing on internal mobility, redeployment, upskilling and reskilling their existing employees. This shift towards hiring from within the company is driven by the need for greater agility and cost efficiency in today's competitive market.

By investing in their employees, companies can ensure that they have ready a pool of skilled workers who are familiar with the company culture and values. This helps them save time in searching for new recruits and reduces their costs significantly. Furthermore, it also helps build a stronger team dynamic as employees are more likely to stay with the company longer when they feel valued.

Candidate and employee engagement

Because the power has shifted towards the job seeker, and we’re in more of a candidate-driven market candidate engagement has become one of the most important aspects of any business. Recruiters need to understand that their candidates are the lifeblood of their organization. We must be prepared to deliver experiences that exceed expectations and keep individuals engaged.

To ensure this, recruiters will focus on automated and personalized messaging to enhance the candidate experience. They will search for ways to engage with candidates on a personal level to build trust, loyalty and a sense of belonging. They will increasingly rely on automated tech in their tech stacks to engage regularly. 

Just as important as candidate engagement is employee engagement. Much in the same way candidates are engaged, keeping up with and informing employees of new opportunities will allow for internal mobility. Employee notifications of training, upskilling, and reskilling go hand-in-hand with new job openings and will ensure the transparency of opportunities available to all.

Building talent pools using ATS enhancement software

Automated solutions have become an integral part of the recruitment process for companies looking to build comprehensive talent pools. With the help of automated recruitment software, you can easily build and manage talent pools in your ATS. It is used to automate the process of local talent search, online candidate search and match, automated data loading and profile updating and deduplicating. This software locates talent from within your local database and from a wide range of sources, like job boards and social media sites.  

Best-of-breed software supplementing the ATS functionality helps optimize recruitment processes by providing powerful sourcing and automated workflow tools that will quickly identify the best candidates for any given role. This saves time and resources while still ensuring that you are selecting the right people for the job.

Conclusion

Each passing year uncovers new trends while existing trends are refined and a new year brings changes to the way we recruit and hire talent. As technology advances, so too does the recruiting process.

Recruiting trends in 2023 are expected to be heavily influenced by AI technology and the use of automated recruitment technology to quickly find the right candidates for the job. With skills-based recruiting, and data-driven recruitment becoming more commonplace, recruiting professionals will have access to a wealth of information about potential candidates that can help them make better hiring decisions.

Candidate search will become more streamlined as recruiters can quickly find the right candidate for their job opening from a large talent pool. They will also have access to predictive analytics and AI-assisted tools that can help them match the right candidate with the right job faster than ever before.

With many open doors ahead, we look forward to the year and invite you to reach out to us with any questions you have regarding intelligent recruitment automation.

Tags: AI, DaXtra Blog, automation, recruiting trends