How will talk of recession impact the recruitment market?

How will talk of recession impact the recruitment market?

July 04 2022

How will talk of recession impact the recruitment market?

 

Over the past few weeks in particular, talk of recession, struggling markets and interest rate hikes have been coming up more and more in conversations with prospective job seekers. Anecdotal evidence would suggest to us that confidence in the jobs market is starting to wane slightly and this is resulting in candidates asking more questions around stability, commitment to Ireland and growth plans.

 

Although the data would suggest that the majority of the candidate market are still happy to move, 28% of people indicated they are either not moving or less likely to move which is significant.

 

This is likely to tighten an already tight labour market…

 

This week we asked:

 

“With more and more talk of recession, increasing interest rates, market instability, how will it impact your next career move?”

 

The Results

 

 

By Sector/Level

 

 

Key take aways?

 

  1. Over 70% of respondents are still happy to consider a move but 50% of those might take a little more convincing.
  2. Executive level candidates are slightly less likely to move overall – likely driven from memories of 2008
  3. Technology professionals were the highest proportion of respondents who are ‘not moving’ (17%) and also ‘I’m moving’ (39%)
  4. Nearly 50% of Non-Technology professionals are now ‘more cautious’ about consider a move
  5. Female candidates are slightly more cautious – 32% either ‘less likely’ or ‘not moving’ Vs 26% for male counterparts – this is more pronounced at the Executive end (40% Vs 29%)

 

What can you do?

 

  1. Keep this in mind, pre-empt questions around commitment to Ireland as a location, funding, and growth plans
  2. Expect, particularly at the more senior end, more questions to understand where a role ‘fits’, its importance to the organisation and, particularly for earlier stage companies, funding
  3. For larger companies, use your structural stability to your advantage. Use data to demonstrate your stability – growth numbers, employees in country, ability to withstand shocks
  4. Make sure to communicate more with candidates through your process – radio silence causes doubt to creep in. Communicating that there is ‘no update’ is, in itself, an update
  5. Get clear on what success looks like for your prospective hire and tell that story – where does this role fit, what are the expectations, how will meeting or exceeding these expectations impact the business
  6. Get your recruitment mix right, in a tightening market, you need to make sure you are able to reach the right people at the right time whether through direct sourcing, referrals or using recruitment consultancies

 

Need some more support? Get in touch - paul@ttrmail.com

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