Let’s talk about the elephant in the room right up front: recession. Some really smart people think one is imminent. But that’s not to discount the other really smart people who think it’s less likely. I’m a somewhere-in-the-middle guy on whether we’re heading for one, which might not be super helpful, but I believe it’s more important to inject a moderate opinion into the fray than to pretend like I’ve got all of the answers.
But I’d be remiss not to start with recession because every hiring leader is weighing their workforce planning against sales projections and the likelihood of more Fed interest hikes.
My general position is that global economies are, and will continue to be, strong if a little wonky. Here are some of my current thoughts based on what I see in our data combined with larger macroeconomic trends:
- Government hiring continues to increase – a trend we’ve felt at HireVue since 2020 when we tripled our public sector growth.
- Hourly hiring continues to plague many companies – speed is still the game’s name, and companies can make impactful changes, but we need to start reckoning with immigration, and the toll covid had on the workforce. recession
The HireVue numbers for Q2
We saw consistent hiring from our customers throughout April – June, backing up the stat that there are 2 job openings for every 1 person who is unemployed. These numbers are global and come from our 800+ customers:
- Interview volume is down slightly from 2.1 to 1.8 million, but historically we see a slight dip at this time of the year between the end of stateside campus recruiting and the calm before seasonal hiring.
- Our customers sent and received 17 million chat and text messages (up 1.4 million from last quarter). This isn’t surprising as we see more and more text utilization amongst hourly workers where the race is on for quick communication.
- Our customers conducted 700,000 assessments (up 50k from last quarter). Screening for skills and looking beyond resumes will only become more important as labor shortages linger – we hope this number keeps climbing. recession
Public sector hiring is evolving and increasing
We saw another quarterly increase in public sector hiring, this time at 17%. The first half of the year continues to show that government jobs are a high priority as the current administration makes more investments in government programs and state governments are flush with cash from covid relief and infrastructure investments.
Specific to hiring at the federal level, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order in June 2021 to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal workforce. We’ve partnered with 8 of the 10 largest federal agencies and have seen firsthand that by using HireVue, these organizations can achieve their workforce transformation goals by accommodating geographically dispersed applicants while streamlining communications and scheduling for under-resourced hiring managers. These capabilities, alongside our evidence-based approach to hiring autistic candidates, will advance longstanding efforts to increase diversity and interview qualified candidates from various backgrounds. recession
Continuing to help the public sector achieve its vision for more equitable hiring is a key priority for us as an organization, and our data shows a consistent drumbeat of progress.
Labor shortages: let’s get systemic
One of the best ways to solve our hourly workforce shortage is to create a better system of legal immigration. This will help us live up to our American values and fill hiring funnels with qualified workers.
Also, we need to acknowledge the massive toll COVID-19 took (and continues to take) on the workforce with deaths and as a mass disabling event. In the US alone, we need to keep in mind that disabled workers are overrepresented in-person occupations – the type of roles that were particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. recession
Talent teams that are grappling with labor shortages have to create the best, most flexible and candidate-centric processes possible, but that is still happening in the context of slowed immigration and hundreds of thousands of people being removed or leaving the workforce altogether. Demographics are changing, and you must build this into your hiring ecosystem and overall expectations.
Looking ahead
As we look ahead to the next half of the year, I’ve been ruminating on one of my favorite phrases, “It’s not the big that eats the small, it’s the fast that beats the slow.” I’ve repeatedly seen how companies that can quickly adapt to (or accurately predict) emerging trends beat out their competition – this holds true for everything from product innovation to workforce planning.
About the Author:
Anthony Reynolds is the Chief Executive Officer of HireVue, the global leader in video interviewing, assessments, and text-enabled recruiting tools.
By Anthony Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer of HireVue
