ScopeAT

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the changes sweeping the field of recruiting, you’re not alone.

Gen AI is promising to transform the way we work, employers are demanding that workers return to the office, and filling skills gaps is only getting harder. Navigating these trends and others is tough to say the least.

To help recruiting leaders and teams prepare for the year ahead and beyond, we spoke with top talent leaders, surveyed thousands of recruiting pros, and analyzed billions of data points generated on the LinkedIn platform to bring you LinkedIn’s 2024 Future of Recruiting report. 

The report offers six predictions for the future of recruiting and includes insights on some of the most important trends reshaping the talent landscape, as well as tips to help you attract, hire, and retain the best talent.

Here’s a preview of some of the predictions covered in the report:  

AI will supercharge recruiting

One of the report’s most important findings is the degree to which talent professionals believe gen AI will transform recruiting.

While just 27% of the talent pros surveyed by LinkedIn say they’re using or experimenting with gen AI, six out of 10 are optimistic about AI in recruitment. Meanwhile, the number of recruiters who added AI skills to their profiles jumped 14% last year.

“AI is poised to revolutionize how we innovate, operate, and work,” says Jude James, head of talent acquisition and contingent workforce strategies, Americas and Europe at UST. 

Recruiting professionals see the potential of gen AI to vastly improve the speed and outcome of their work. Among recruiting pros who are using gen AI, the biggest benefit is the ability to write job descriptions faster and more easily, the survey found. Also high on recruiters’ list is AI’s ability to automate tasks, which in turn allows them to spend more time on fulfilling work.

Talent leaders expect gen AI adoption to accelerate in the year ahead as recruiting teams gain a better understanding of how the technology can be leveraged in multiple ways, from sourcing candidates to personalizing outreach and matching internal candidates with open positions.

But even as gen AI starts to go mainstream in recruiting, the human touch will remain critical, the report notes. Top recruiters will set themselves apart from their peers by doing things that AI can’t do, like establishing meaningful relationships with candidates and offering positive candidate experiences. As a result, soft skills, such as communication and relationship-building, will be invaluable for recruiting.

“The best recruiters must be great at building relationships and creating high-touch candidate experiences that will help them rise above the bots,” says John Vlastelica, CEO at Recruiting Toolbox.

Recruiting will help build the skills-based workforce of the future

One word is expected to get a lot of attention from recruiters in the year ahead: Skills.

More employers are recognizing that taking a skills-based approach to hiring and talent development is necessary to fill skills gaps and adapt to changing market conditions. Recruiters will lead the charge on skills-based hiring, while also helping companies create effective upskilling and internal mobility programs. 

In fact, 73% of recruiting pros say hiring based on skills is a priority.

And 84% of talent professionals say TA and learning and development (L&D) need to work more closely, up from 78% who said the same last year.

The arguments in favor of evaluating candidates based on their skills — rather than solely based on their degrees or previous job titles — are powerful. Skills-based hiring can help employers increase talent pools by 10x, LinkedIn research shows. That’s because skills-based hiring uncovers qualified workers who employers may have overlooked in the past.  

Skills-based hiring also advances diversity by opening the door to individuals from historically marginalized groups who may not have a degree. It’s no wonder the number of jobs listed on the LinkedIn platform that omit degree requirements jumped 36% between 2019 and 2022.

But companies won’t just be looking to hire employees with the right skills, they’ll also be investing more on developing in-house talent. While upskilling has become a priority for employers in recent years, it’s becoming even more imperative now. One reason: The rise of AI is creating demand for skills that can’t be met by hiring alone. 

“The talent pool for AI skills is very small,” says Erin Scruggs, vice president and head of global talent acquisition at LinkedIn. “So we have to work closely with our leaders on this build-versus-buy strategy and how we can get internal talent to pivot, learn new skills, and become AI experts versus only going after a handful of people who have the right skills in the external market.” 

TA leaders will increasingly serve as talent advisors, partnering with L&D to ensure their companies have the right upskilling and internal mobility strategy to meet talent needs.

Recruiters will advocate for flex work policies

Return-to-office mandates are on the rise — and that’s making it harder for recruiters to find top talent.

Over the past year, the number of applications for remote jobs soared 146%, while the number of remote job postings dropped 46%.

Meanwhile, flexible work as an employee value proposition (EVP) has seen an increase in importance, especially for Gen Z. From 2021 to 2023, the importance of flexible work as an EVP grew by 10% among all job seekers and by 14% among Gen Z job seekers, according to LinkedIn data.

LinkedIn survey results show the degree to which this dynamic is hindering recruiters’ efforts. Only 7% of recruiting pros say fully in-office work policies have a positive impact on recruiting, compared to 77% who say flexible work policies have a positive impact.

Recruiters know better than anyone how remote work expands the available talent pool by allowing companies to hire individuals outside of their home base. Offering flex work options also helps companies improve their employer brand. 

While recruiters don’t set remote work policies, they can demonstrate the importance of preserving flexible work arrangements by gathering data and sharing it with the C-suite. 

“TA’s job is to show business stakeholders how the talent pool shrinks when we don’t think about flexibility, says Gregory Karanastasis, global head of talent acquisition at Accenture. “There’s going to be some goodwill built up for companies that have been consistent with flex policies.”

Final thoughts

In addition to these topics, the report also probes the rising importance of measuring quality of hire, the significance of building agile recruiting teams, and the challenges recruiters face in engaging and hiring Gen Z. 

While these predictions may not play out exactly as described, we know one thing will remain true: Recruiters have the power to make meaningful contributions to their employer’s success and shape the world of work.

Acknowledgements and methodology 

This report was informed by insightful interviews with recruiting leaders around the world, to whom we owe our sincere thanks, including: Isabelle Bastide at PageGroup, Angela Benjamin at Delta, Glen Goodman at ChenMed, Stacey Gordon at Rework Work, Jude James at UST, Gregory Karanastasis at Accenture, Hung Lee at Recruiting Brainfood, François-Xavier Mallet at Alstom, Bryan Mayo at Atlassian, Amy Schultz at Canva, Erin Scruggs at LinkedIn, Kristin Shulman at Booking.com, Mark E. Smith at Medtronic, Michael Smith at Randstad Enterprise, Nicky Vallelly at Google DeepMind, Troy Victor at Delta, and John Vlastelica at Recruiting Toolbox.

LinkedIn Research surveyed 1,453 recruiting professionals in management seniority roles or higher in addition to 498 hiring managers. This survey was conducted in six languages across 23 countries between October and November 2023.

Behavioral insights for this report were derived from the billions of data points generated by the 1 billion members in over 200 countries on LinkedIn today. Unless otherwise noted, all data reflects aggregated LinkedIn member activity as of January 1, 2024.

For the complete methodology, see the full report here.

Uncategorised