Over the past few years, there has been a growing trend in the world of employment: the most qualified candidates in the job market have become more difficult to find.
According to a recent CNNMoney.com article, that trend will continue during all of 2014. In fact, the article referred to 2014 as the year of the “passive” job hunter.
According to a survey of over 1,600 full-time employees by HiringSolved, 47% of men indicated that they don’t plan to actively look for a new job this year and 33% of women did the same. Perhaps more telling, nearly 60% of people earning $80,000 or more per year don’t plan to actively seek new employment, either.
What’s the take-away from this survey? Finding and recruiting senior-level employees and star talent will be difficult in 2014, and it might be the most difficult it’s been during the past several years.
Below are three main reasons why this will be the case:
The candidates who are “the best of the best” know their worth and value, and they believe they can afford to wait for employers to seek them out.
- These passive candidates are likely too busy to conduct a full-blown job search, and therefore aren’t able to devote the time and energy needed to do so.
- Many of the companies currently employing these passive candidates are making an effort to compensate them adequately in the hopes of retaining them.
The bottom line is that top-notch candidates aren’t going to “break down your door” to fill your open positions. There’s a good chance they’re not even going to apply for those positions.
No, in order to hire these types of candidates, you must find them and then recruit them. They’ll need to be convinced to leave their current position to join your team, and you’ll have plenty of competition in your quest to secure their services.
Is this part of your hiring plan for 2014? What steps are you taking to ensure that you hire the best candidates available?
Your answers to these questions could largely determine if you stay ahead of your competition this year . . . or fall behind.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of organizations. If this is something you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.