With the first half of 2022 behind us and the hot summer months bearing down on us, it is useful to take some time to reflect on the current state of the marketplace and how things are likely to change over the remainder of the year.
Headlines concerning the difficult market for recruiting talented engineering staff have surrounded media for months now, and while that is unlikely to change overnight and will be a challenging prospect for rest of 2022, there are glimmers of hope as the industry changes and businesses become more savvy with how they recruit in the current climate.
How will the Counter Offer Culture affect the marketplace?
Any who have recruited during this period will be familiar that there has been a conscious shift, in light of the difficult market, to throw money at a problem. Companies offering candidates who choose to look for their next opportunity massive sums to remain, eliminating the need to recruit a replacement.
The issue with this is two-fold; often these candidates end up not staying for much beyond this point, regardless. Also, with the huge sums of money that are being added onto salaries, this can cause conflict with other members of the staff who expect equal treatment, either causing businesses to fork out huge chunks of their profit to company-wide salary increases, or having to replace disgruntled employees who choose to leave.
This may lead to more skilled jobseekers entering the marketplace, but brings with it more challenges, as it will add to candidate’s salary expectations. Competitive salaries will definitely be an important factor in future recruitment; however, as has always been the case, there are far better ways to attract suitable candidates than merely offering the highest bid.
How Can Candidates be Upskilled?
One of the most frequent questions we get from prospective candidates looking to apply to one of our clients is “what training do they offer?”. Candidates of all skill levels are interested in improving their skillsets to apply themselves better to a role and add more value to a business.
In particular, training has become an essential part of the recruitment process in this difficult marketplace, and we will only see this grow as head into the second half of 2022. With the lack of skilled candidates, it is imperative that businesses look to take on candidates who are motivated and can be trained into the role.
Some companies worry they will waste time and resources if they train someone only to lose them out to another competitor. But time and again this has not proven to be the case, and companies who put the effort into upskilling new and existing employees are far more likely to gain loyalty and retain these candidates for the long term.
How the Pandemic has made a lasting impact on the workplace?
The Covid-19 pandemic changed the nature of working as we know it, with many businesses shutting their office doors entirely and resorting to a purely remote working. Now that we have returned to something resembling “normal” in terms of the workplace, this has formed a lasting impact.
Many businesses, including Rise Technical, have retained a Hybrid working environment, whereby employees can choose if they want to venture into the office or work from home (or a mixture of the two).
This can be a divisive topic but what there is no doubt is that this has become a huge factor when candidates are choosing a new role. Of course, there are some roles where this is not possible, but if many such as sales and design engineering vacancies, it has almost become an expectation that some form of remote working will be offered.
In the second half of 2022, it seems clear that many companies will continue to find that balance, particularly offering this flexibility to ensure they remain competitive to new employees.
How can these Challenges be Overcome Moving Forward?
The job market is constantly changing and not something that can be accurately predicted, yet it is important to have a finger on the pulse and watch for trends as they happen to remain on top.
Rise Technical have fantastic market knowledge and experience with recruiting in tough environments from the current post-pandemic environment to recessions in times past. There is a job out there for everyone and equally a person out there perfect for every job, and we are happy to assist by not only searching for the RIGHT candidate, but also giving advice on how to tailor your search to attract the person who will add value to your business in the long term.
You can register a vacancy with us directly, or get in touch with one of our specialist consultants, please contact us on enquiry@risetechnical.co.uk or give us a call on 0117 910 7383 we will be able to advise you on the next steps.
