In 2023, recruitment trends that gained popularity in Indian companies saw a 68% growth with remote working. After the pandemic, the number of candidates in search of jobs skyrocketed. Unfortunately, coordinating and handling such a vast number of applicants without standard human resource tools was a gruelling task involving a lot of time, effort and cost. There was a need for highly skilled digital experts in teams as there was a tiny pool of digitally literate people. Automation decreased discrimination in the candidate screening process, and the hiring process became much faster and more cost-effective.
The era of data-driven hiring
A data-driven strategy was a popular recruiting trend as it was all-encompassing and gave hiring managers a good view of everything from the past to the future. Data-driven recruitment strategies simplified the hiring process, offering a comprehensive view of past and prospects and improving effectiveness substantially. It allowed an intense analysis of data, budgeting and other relevant information so that hiring managers could get the best workforce for their company.
Harnessing workforce analytics
An increased emphasis on workforce analytics was another recruitment trend seen in 2023. It was a big support to hiring managers as it gave them an insight into the applicants and simplified the recruitment process from sourcing, accessing, interviewing and onboarding suitable profiles. They had access to the best online platforms to advertise jobs and the best-suited profiles for the job. This data became all the more important once the candidate was onboarding as the employer got important information like employee retention rate, offer acceptance rate, performance reviews and skill gap inspection to name a few.
Revolutionising documentation
Manual documentation was a very time and effort-consuming process, and 2023 saw this yielding ground to comprehensive HR document kits for companies, exemplified by the StartupHR Toolkit, a ready-to-use HR document for companies. This kit included modules for job descriptions, policies, letters, calculators and statutory compliance, which were set to Indian laws and standards. The StartupHR Toolkit, in particular, included more than 20 safety signages, 25+ COVID-19 documents as well as basic HR templates. These documents could be edited in MS Word, MS Excel and Google Docs formats. Experts also helped with specific organisational requirements by providing customised HR templates.
Unlocking work-from-home opportunities
Hiring managers needed to come up with innovative strategies that worked for everyone and were formed in a way that employees were aware of the pros and cons of working from home. New recruitment trends in 2023 showed that remote working was the future, as 98 per cent of employees wanted to work from home regularly or at least 2 to 3 days a week. It also involved significant cost savings for companies.
Leveraging social media for recruitment
The latest recruitment trends 2023 showed that thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of the working population increased their social presence on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram substantially and social media hiring became the most popular hiring method. Social media was a powerful platform for attracting the right crowd and building the brand. Moreover, it was a portal where you could post about fun activities in your company and stories about employees’ achievements to boost their morale. Social media recruiting was often seen to attract the right talent, which was a big asset for any company.
Automation and the AI frontier
Artificial intelligence and automation were taking over the world and what could make this clearer than our dependency on them for basic tasks like shopping, entertainment and paying bills. Some professionals stated that they did consider technology a threat to their jobs while most hiring managers looked at it as a godsend. They could recruit bright talent by using innovative hiring tools like chatbots and machine learning which enhanced communication by speeding up data processing. It was estimated that more and more recruitment in the future would be based on AI and automated hiring tools.
Flexibility as the new norm
This was by far the most popular recruitment trend in 2023. Employees across the board were looking for more flexible hours and working from home increased demand for flexible hours. While working from home, it was not always easy to do a 9 to 5 job but with a flexible work schedule employees could cope with emergencies at home without their work suffering or losing their salary for that day. It was generally seen that companies that followed flexible schedules attracted the best talent and increased employee retention and productivity significantly.
Cutting-edge recruitment tools
The latest recruitment tools streamlined the hiring process and helped to capture the best talent. It also made the recruitment process fast and simple. The latest recruitment tools helped trim costs and save a lot of time. This was expected to grow in the future because the latest technology offered premium recruitment handling features. It provided the best screening process and included employee engagement, analytics, employee file management and payroll management to name a few.
Skill-centric hiring
The recruitment trends in 2023 showed that resumes and talent acquisition-based experience no longer played as important a role as domain-based experience when it came to hiring. Many companies were hiring candidates based on their skills in the latest technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, cybersecurity and STEM-relevant roles.
Virtual recruitment prowess
Virtual recruitment was a time-efficient and profitable recruitment trend in 2023. Virtual recruitment saved a significant amount of money by efficiently screening candidates’ profiles. Hybrid work opportunities were gaining popularity and hiring managers were working efficiently by taking interviews virtually and onboarding employees. It had been noticed that many applicants dropped out due to the time-consuming and complex hiring process. Virtual recruitment was quick and efficient and recruiters could choose the best profiles from the numerous applicants.
Crafting a strong employer brand
A vital recruitment trend of 2023 that many companies should have followed was employer branding. Any job applicant would check the company’s work culture, salary package and other facilities, so if a company had a good brand name it would get the most applicants. Employers were beginning to realise the necessity to maintain their brand image otherwise they were likely to lose an outstanding candidate for a specific job role. Also, it was easier for a reputed company to collaborate with other parties and clients.
Proactive talent acquisition
As a hiring manager, it was imperative to build proactive recruitment strategies as the demand for talented employees was greater than the supply. Recruitment trends showed that hiring managers had started getting in touch with suitable candidates even before a position was available and worked on gaining their interest and letting them know about their company. They attracted the best talent by using proactive strategies and focused on sourcing and engaging candidates way ahead of hiring requirements.
These 12 recruitment trends of 2023 not only saved time and effort and were cost-effective, but they also enabled companies to recruit the best candidates for their organisation. They overcame the difficulties of the previous years and helped to optimise and streamline the hiring process by reducing bad hires and improving productivity.
References:
- New Recruitment Trends in India You Need to Know | SutraHR | May 2023
- Hiring trends in India for 2023 | Michael Page | July 2023
- 23 Latest Recruiting Trends that HR must Implement in 2023 | iSmartRecruit | 2022
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