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Why You’re Losing Out on Great Job Candidates

  • Publish Date: Posted almost 2 years ago
  • Author: Staff Writer

​Why You’re Losing Out on Great Job Candidates

Want some sure-fire ways to lose out on the top candidates you need to drive your digital transformation?

​Why You’re Losing Out on Great Job Candidates

Here are some ideas to consider…

  • Have candidates interview everyone under the sun within your organization

  • Spend weeks dithering

  • Have unrealistic expectations about required skills needed

  • Set salary rates not in line with market dynamics

  • Have limited flexibility when it comes to remote work

In case you didn’t know, tech talent is in red-hot demand. And they have some new demands themselves.

“The market is so crazy hot that we can’t keep top candidates on the market for long,” said Jayson Spaits, MATRIX Director, Direct Hire Center of Excellence. “A top candidate can quit their job with no job in hand and go out of the country for two weeks, come back and get a job the next day after they return,” he said.

Companies who haven’t updated their ways of thinking from “old school to new school hiring” philosophies are losing out, said Spaits. “Having an internal HR resource do an interview, then the team lead, the manager, and the director — that just doesn’t cut it anymore in this market,” he said. “I have seen candidates get a job from just a single phone interview.”

Data from the MATRIX database supports the trend that candidates are moving fast.

MATRIX job order time-to-fill has shortened over the past year:

  • Direct hire jobs – 50 days on average in 2020 vs. 28 days in 2021

  • Contract jobs – 19 days on average in 2020 vs. 15 days in 2021

COVID-19 has contributed significantly to this speed-to-hire trend. Virtual sourcing, recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding technologies have streamlined the process to the point that in-person requirements have almost disappeared from candidate requirements.

And with multiple offers to consider, top candidates are often choosing the companies who offer the big bucks.

According to SHRM, 73% of recruiters report an increase in negotiating for higher salaries among candidates—up more than 20 percentage points since 2020.

And according to CompTIA, 58% of companies report that beyond normal yearly increases, they are offering higher starting salaries and wages than last year.

If the pandemic didn’t already prove this point, the remote world is expanding. Candidates are expecting remote flexibility to be part of any job offer.

MATRIX Recruiting VP Justin Thomason confirmed that remote work has skyrocketed in client job orders.

“At MATRIX, we have seen a remarkable 469% increase in the number of jobs we staff for our clients that allow for remote work over the same time period two years ago. In 2021, more than 75% of all of our client jobs allowed remote work; however, nearly 50% of these jobs specify the remote option as temporary. There’s no question people are changing jobs and if your organization is not offering fully remote capabilities, you’re missing out on great talent,” said Thomason.

We predict the candidate shortage is likely to continue upward in velocity.

How can you improve your talent acquisition processes in this new normal?

  • Move fast. Streamline the hiring process to leverage virtual technologies.

  • Make sure your compensation package is in line with today’s actual salary expectations.

  • Be flexible with requirements. Almost nobody has all the skillsets needed for today’s niche jobs. Be willing to train up your employees to get those skills.

  • Value your employees. Today they are not just a cog in the wheel - they are the wheel.

  • Offer remote work flexibility in some form.

If you would like to speak with someone at MATRIX about these trends and receive advisement, contact us today.