“Why Am I Not Getting Loads of Great Applicants?!”

I stole the title of this week’s blog off one of Crispin’s clients.  His client decided to save the recruitment fee and recruit their shiny new accountant themselves.  Makes sense in this cost-cutting era for sure!  

Except when it doesn’t.  Because the reality is – the pool of awesome potential hires is a paddling pool right now.  And the paddling pool has a leak and there is no more water being added anytime soon…

I mean, it is probably fair enough – if you read the news, you’d probably get the impression that there are loads of exceptional people lining up outside your door to join your company.

The reality is far different.  

In fact – we’ve continued to see great candidates have multiple job offer situations, to see counter offers as current employers attempt to stop their person leaving and to see many clients give us a call after wasting 8 weeks recruiting themselves only to find they’ve been unable to source anyone suitable for the role.

So what’s happening out there in the talent world?

• For the roles that we cover (Finance & Accounting, Sales & Marketing, IT & Digital, HR, Business Support) – the reality is that there remains a talent shortage for the people the employers are wanting to hire. 
• In many areas (looking at you in particular technology industry) – the fact that the borders have closed means there is a massive supply side issue.  Many organisations will struggle to hire new talent in 2021 (and potentially retain current talent as rates may rise). 
• Companies are waiting for a bit of certainty around borders, immigration, visas and the pathway moving forward – there are many people on visas here and working currently but they are worried about what will happen if their visas are coming to an end.  We don’t want a one-way door policy and lose more talent back to their home country when we need them here!
• Demand for top talent is not slowing down.  In fact, most organisations have realised now that the quality of their people determines the success of their business. 
• Candidates are fairly confident in the industries and segments where we focus.  They have lost their uncertainty of April 2020 and are looking for opportunities to join companies doing great things.  

• Employers that have not been able to articulate their Covid journey and their plan ahead so are missing out on the best people.  The best candidates want to know what the road ahead looks like!
• In areas – we have seen employers offering roles in the interview because they know that their competition is also looking to hire.

While tourism & hospitality continue to be impacted, many organisations are doing really well (some better than ever).   The optimism many organisations have is inspiring and what we don’t want is their supply of talent to diminish their success.

If you are an employer and looking to hire someone exceptional for a specialist area by all means, give it a go yourself, but the days of expecting that you are going to have a number of people banging on your door are numbered, so ensure your process is great, you are moving quickly and you can clearly articulate your why.

Otherwise, give us a call!