As an employer, keeping up with ever-changing hiring trends can feel nearly impossible. But staying up to date is crucial if you want to make the right hires for your team. 

The tight labor market of 2022 meant that employers had to compete for top talent and continue to evolve their jobs and workplaces based on the changing demands of job seekers. It seems that this is one trend that will continue through 2023. 

What else can employers expect to see this year? 

We’re breaking down the hiring trends that will be most prominent in 2023 and sharing recruiting advice that will help you this year and beyond. 

1. Employers are hiring faster. 

According to CareerPlug’s hiring data gathered from over 16,000 employers in 2022, 71% of employers contacted applicants within 24 hours of applying and 46% of employers scheduled interviews within 48 hours. 

We’ve also noticed a trend over the past three years of employers hiring faster as competition in the labor market has increased. In 2020, employers took an average of 24.7 days to hire, compared to 18.4 days in 2021 and 14.5 days in 2022. Clearly, businesses are feeling the pressure to speed up their hiring and this is a trend that shows no signs of stopping in 2023.

Our recommendation is to aim to make your hires within 10 days of posting a job. With competition for employees high from big box retailers like Amazon and Walmart, if you wait more than a few days to reach out to a candidate, then more than likely, they have moved on to another opportunity. 
We suggest speeding up your hiring process by automating as much of it as possible. Use text recruiting to communicate with candidates faster. Text messages receive an 8 times higher response rate than email, along with a much faster response time. You might also consider automating interview scheduling with an applicant tracking system like CareerPlug, which instantly sends your qualified candidates a link to schedule an interview on your calendar.

2. Pay transparency is becoming more popular.

In 2022, New York City joined several other states like Colorado and California in passing pay transparency laws, some of which require employers to put compensation in the job description or disclose it during the initial interviews. 

Pay transparency also involves creating more visibility to your existing staff around compensation structure and how raises are calculated. We’ve long promoted this as a best hiring and retention practice, and expect it to continue gaining steam in the years to come. 

Pay transparency is a good thing because not being transparent with salary disproportionately affects women and people of color who historically have been paid less and are less likely to negotiate salaries. 

It also provides a better candidate experience and can save you time in the hiring process. Why wait until the final hiring process stages or even making an offer to find out that what you are willing to pay doesn’t meet a candidate’s expectations? Let them self-select in or out of the opportunity early on and avoid awkward negotiation conversations. It’s a win, win for everyone.  

3. Creating a positive candidate experience is vital. 

We are proud to be leaders in candidate experience research, annually publishing our Candidate Experience Report to help employers understand what job seekers truly want from a hiring process. 

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increased focus on the candidate experience, or the experience a job seeker has with an employer throughout the entire hiring process, from job posting to job offer. 

Today, many employers understand the impact candidate experience can have on their ability to make the right hires. Our research shows that 49% of job seekers have declined an offer due to a poor candidate experience. 

In such a competitive labor market, it’s important to keep in mind that job seekers are forming opinions early. They have too many options to settle for the company that treated them poorly during an interview or took too long to respond after they applied. 

An increased focus on creating a positive candidate experience is certainly a good thing, and is a trend you can count on seeing in 2023. For advice on creating a candidate experience that improves your chances of hiring your top choice candidates, check out this video from our Senior Director of People, Natalie Morgan: 

4. Flexible work is more important to job seekers than ever before.

Remote work increased rapidly during the global pandemic, and though many things on the COVID front have returned to some level of normal, employees’ desire for flexible working options may be here to stay. 

In one FlexJobs study, 65% of people reported wanting to work remotely full-time. In 2023, we can expect a continued preference for fully remote work, but we’ll likely also see a rise in hybrid work options as well. A recent AT&T study found the hybrid work model is expected to grow from 42% in 2021 to 81% in 2024. 

Employees appreciate the flexibility that remote and hybrid work allow, meaning that if it’s all possible for your business, these perks can help you attract more top talent. Plus, the fully remote model opens up your talent pool and can save your company on the expense of office space. 

If you operate a business that can’t go remote – such as brick and mortar stores – you can still find ways to advertise flexible work practices to job seekers. Consider asking your current staff how they feel about your business’ shift scheduling practices. What do they like about it? What could be improved? Do you make it easy for them to swap shifts? Do you accommodate schedules to match people’s needs outside of work, like school and child care? If so, these are great perks to highlight when you’re recruiting. 

5. Increased DEI efforts. 

In recent years, many companies have committed to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, and this positive trend is one we can expect to continue in the years to come. 

Diversity is a broad term that refers to more than just race and gender. A diverse workforce is one where people of different origins, education, lifestyles, skills, and physical abilities are represented. Employers have made the important realization that diversity is important not only from an ethical perspective, but studies show that diverse teams perform demonstrably better than teams that lack diversity.

It’s important to acknowledge that all humans have unconscious biases, and these can have a damaging impact on the hiring process. Hiring for diversity and inclusion involves overcoming these biases and building a more diverse workforce. Educating yourself on the most common biases that show up during hiring can be a great place to start.  

6. Gen Z continues to enter workforce. 

Gen Z will make up an estimated 25% of the workforce by 2025. And with much of this generation now hovering around 23- 25 years old, we can expect them to take on junior level roles in the next few years. If you haven’t already, it’s time to embrace this younger generation’s infiltration of the workplace. 

Some of our best tips for recruiting Gen Z? 

• Make your job postings and applications mobile-friendly. 
• Embrace tech in your hiring process and make use of virtual interviews. 
• Make your company culture a prominent part of recruiting efforts. 
• Meet younger job seekers where they are by recruiting on social media. Watch our video below to learn more about using social media to recruit. 

7. Employers embrace technology that makes hiring easier. 

With every passing year, business owners have more tools at their disposal to make the difficult task of running a business just a little easier. One indispensable tool that you can expect to be on trend for 2023 and beyond is the applicant tracking system. 

An ATS like CareerPlug can help you streamline your hiring process so that you can make better hires quicker and more confidently. Employers that embrace this technology have a competitive advantage over others looking to hire from the same talent pool. 

Some of the biggest benefits of using an ATS include:

• Post jobs to all the major job boards with just one click
• Instantly communicate with applicants
• Automate interview scheduling
• Reduce interview no-shows
• Evaluate candidates using built-in screening tools and assessments

To learn more about what an ATS is and how to know if you need one for your business, check out our Ultimate Guide to Applicant Tracking Systems.