Recruiting’s biggest challenges in 2018

February 7th, 2018 | Industry News

LinkedIn’s 2018 Global Recruiting Trends report contains a fascinating range of challenges for recruiters in the year ahead – although a number of them seem to conflict with wider trends in the UK economic climate. A major theme is the role of diversity – which 82% of hirers saw as the top trend for the year, at a time when almost every professional and trade body is expressing concern about the effect of Brexit on the candidate pool and especially, the tendency for top talent to be seeking jobs outside the UK because of employment uncertainty.

A second factor that will challenge hiring managers, is the ability to assess soft skills, which 63% of those surveyed said was a problem. Soft skills are notoriously difficult to interview for which is why recruitment software that can build soft skills evidence in to the applicant tracking system is likely to be invaluable to companies and recruitment agencies seeking candidates with well-developed communication and teamwork attributes.

Data – the future of recruitment databases

The survey highlights another major development – over two thirds of the respondents say they are using employment data to help them retain key staff, evaluate skills and create more powerful offers for top candidates. Within two years, 79% of recruiters will be using data as part of the hiring process. What does this mean for recruiting platforms? Essentially, the reliance on data to identify candidates, take them through the application process and deliver an unrejectable job offer means SAAS recruitment software will need to be cloud-based, highly secure and intuitive to use. Why? Because recruiters and recruitment consultants will find they need to input data at many more key points in the selection process and that data will need to be instantly available to other decision-makers in the organisation. New government rules on data storage mean that any employment software has to be un-hackable and offer permission levels that can be managed easily as recruiters come and go. Because data will be so essential to success, ease of inputting the kind of information that is necessary to make good decisions has to be a priority too.

Finding such software to support recruiting might suggest that it’s essential to invest a fortune but in fact relatively cheap recruitment software, like Recruit So Simple, offers such features as standard.

Scotland’s recruitment worries

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce have produced their quarterly report which makes grim reading for recruiters – sectors such as manufacturing, tourism and finance and business services are experiencing their greatest difficulties in meeting recruitment needs since the survey began. In fact, in the Financial and Business Services sector 47% of firms say they are currently experiencing recruitment problems. Sadly, while Brexit uncertainties continue, Scotland is likely to struggle to fill its recruiting needs. Flexible staffing software is likely to help agencies and employers move rapidly to identify and recruit the best candidates.