Five Recruitment Trends to Know for 2023

The 2023 Global Talent Playbook is here! We analyzed labor market data and workforce trends from the last year to offer strategic guidance and talent planning tools for the year ahead. As you develop your staffing strategy for 2023, here are some of the important recruitment trends set to influence the talent landscape this year.

Skills over degrees, wage transparency, and remote work are key themes we’ve seen emerge. To develop a strategic recruiting plan, you need to know the current trends, what they mean, and how to respond. 

In the staffing industry, access to the latest insights on recruiting trends enables you to develop a staffing process that decreases time to fill, increases client satisfaction, and consistently achieves successful placements.

Here are some of the 2023 recruitment trends that will guide the future of recruiting:

1. Wage transparency and wage growth are expanding

2. Skills-based recruitment plays a significant role in successful placements

3. Remote work is here to stay, and many candidates expect the option to work from home

4. Training and development are sought-after benefits

5. Data-driven recruitment wins talent

Wage transparency and wage growth are expanding

The frequency of advertised wages on job postings more than doubled between 2017 and 2022. Whether or not there are laws in your market requiring wage transparency, many job seekers now expect to see compensation stated in job postings. Not only are more postings advertising wages, the wages themselves are growing. This is most apparent for lower wage levels, non-white employees, and job switchers, too. A study by the Pew Research Center found that workers who changed jobs got a pay increase of nearly 10%. So while we’re talking about recruiting here, talent retention is just as important. 

Insider tip: Consider the types of applicants you’re recruiting for and advertise competitive wages to make postings successful. How do you know what the going rate is for the role you’re trying to fill? Use unbiased compensation data based on factors like supply and demand in your specific market, wage inflation and more.  

Skills-based recruitment plays a significant role in successful placements

Skills are important—and changing—so make sure your recruiting strategy keeps up. The skills underlying the average job have changed 37% over the last five years, and one in five skills is entirely new. The skills required for someone in a customer support role aren’t the same as they were just a few years ago. New technologies are constantly emerging along with the skills associated with them. As clients seek to fill roles, pursue individuals who are adaptable and innovative to meet the demands of changing role requirements and technologies. Growth mindedness, intrapreneurship, and adaptive leadership made the top five growing common skills last year—recruit for them. 

Insider tip: Look beyond what may be considered the ideal skill set for a role to alternative, similar, or emerging skills, and you’ll broaden your pool of candidates and narrow recruiting challenges. To make the most informed decisions, understanding skills is key. Access our open-source library of over 32,000 skills to learn about in-demand skills, top related job titles, the companies hiring for them, and even see live job postings listing these skills. 

Remote work is here to stay, and many candidates expect the option to work from home

Whether you’re back to the office, working from home (or from a beach somewhere), remote work across all industries is sticking around. Fifteen percent  of jobs requiring degrees are remote, up from just over 2.5% of jobs pre-pandemic. And this goes for jobs you might not necessarily think of as work-from-home positions. The top two fastest growing remote roles last year were Medication Aide/Technician and Order Processor/Order Entry Clerk. While we know some roles can’t be remote, many can. One survey found that 58% of job holders in the US can work remotely for all or at least some of their work weeks.

Insider tip: As you help clients refine their reqs this year, benchmark their postings against the competition. If you’re having a hard time finding candidates where you are, use data to recruit for pockets of talent outside your immediate market. With the right information, you become the trusted authority and can build better postings to beat out the competition. 

Training and development opportunities are sought-after benefits

Candidates are seeking to develop themselves as well as the companies they work for. And a recruitment strategy that includes the promotion of learning and development opportunities will attract even more candidates. “Companies need to embrace a mindset that focuses on finding great people, upskilling them through training and mentoring, and launching them forward into the critical roles that will help the company meet their ambitions,” Lightcast Vice President of Staffing Strategy Ron Hetrick said. 

Insider tip: If your clients have great L&D opportunities, make sure those benefits are highlighted in postings. Or if you have a candidate who’d only require a bit of upskilling to fit into a req, tell them the skills they’d need to do so. With Career Pathways, you can see how workers are able to move from job to job based on skills. Client conversations are elevated when you can advise on how candidates in similar jobs might fit into their open roles as well as the necessary skills they’d need to advance them down the road.

Data-driven recruitment wins talent

There are nearly two job openings per unemployed individual, the highest it’s been since the historic labor market tightness in the middle of 2022. And with working age populations shrinking around the world in a global demographic drought, employers have to be able to reach the workers who are available and willing to work. Staffing companies with targeted data can advise clients on how to design job postings that speak to candidates and make successful placements. The most complete labor market data available helps you target the right people, find hidden pockets of talent, and ultimately decrease time to fill. What more could you ask for?

For more of the latest workforce trends and to help your staffing company build a strategic recruitment plan for the year ahead, download our 2023 Global Talent Playbook.