A recent US census report revealed that the median household income increased by 5.2% in 2015, the largest jump witnessed since 1967. According to a report titled Recruiting Trends 2016-17, published by Career Services and the Collegiate Employment Research Institute, despite the reluctance of the Federal Reserve to increase the interest rates, due to the continued slack in the labor market, the economy has started to improve steadily.
Fresh graduates are getting better job and income opportunities now because of this positive news. In 2017 as well, employers are expected to hike their starting salaries to attract the most talented candidates. The most notable sectors to take up these steps will be computer science, engineering and other academic majors.
Here we take a look at the various trends that will shape your work and career prospects in the coming years.
Talent will Be the Priority
According to Michigan State University’s Recruiting Trends, hiring is expected to increase by 23% in 2017. Of this, a 19% hike is likely to be witnessed for candidates with a bachelor’s degree, while a 37% jump is expected for associate degree holders.
This will make recruiting division the most glamorous department in the company. Although it doesn’t make any direct profit for the company, this department is key to defining success for the company and won’t go unnoticed. According to the Global Trends Report 2017, by LinkedIn, talent will be the number one priority for 83% of the leading recruiters, while 75% of leaders also believe that the recruitment division will be the key to their company’s success.
Sales, Operations and Engineering Departments to Benefit the Most
About 56% leaders believe that there will be an increase in hiring within their company in 2017. The Global Trends Report 2017 by LinkedIn also revealed that most hiring will take place in the sales, operations and engineering departments. More importance will be given to methods and strategies used to recruit talent in order to ensure that the best filters through to the ranks.
Speaking of finding talent, most recruiters believe that employee referral is one of the best ways to recruit talent. However, a major trend expected for the year is the use of social media and social professional platforms to scout for talent, said a spokesperson for recruitment platform Common Agenda, in an interview.
While the global numbers for 2017 are very positive, this will be the first time in five years that the market will slow down on a year-over-year basis.
Branding will Lead the Investment List
According to the World Employment and Social Outlook Report by the International Labour Organization, more than 76 million jobs have been lost since 2007 and global unemployment was likely to reach the 3 million mark by 2017. In order to prevent such an eventuality, businesses will have to invest in the right direction.
Since the recruitment budget is normally very tight for most businesses, management leaders tend to spend it conservatively. In 2017, about 50% of the money will be spent on job ads and recruitment agencies. About 17% of the budget will be dedicated towards technology, which in turn will create leverage and automate the workflow. Although employers believe that referrals are the top source of quality hires, a very low amount is actually invested in referral programs.
About 53% leaders said that their focus would be on long-term strategic employer branding and that is where they plan to invest the most. Tools, candidate experience and upskilling the team will be the next three important things with 39%, 38% and 29% leaders supporting employer branding, respectively.
Given that automation has the potential to increase the speed of screening candidates and assessment of softs skills more precisely, it can be one of the key trends for many companies as well, along with big data. Bigger companies will focus on differentiating themselves from their competitors, leading to an interesting year ahead.
