The pandemic altered the world in several undeniable ways. We had to change the way we travelled, socialized, worked and did our daily shopping. Although it has been over three years since the start of the pandemic-driven changes, they continue to compound and influence daily workings. (We bet some of you still carry a hand sanitiser in your handbag as a habit!). Even today the travel and hospitality sectors are nowhere near their pre-pandemic levels, the IT boom has receded and retail businesses are still exploring avenues to boost sales and reduce debts.
Hence, in 2023, businesses will look to overcome these challenges by modifying their hiring practices. Yes, traditional hiring can no longer address the demand for improved talent acquisition. With a dynamic and unstable corporate environment, businesses need a workforce that can adapt to changes and help innovate. Most of all, as businesses rebuild after the pandemic, they want a leaner and smarter workforce.
As prospective employees, you need to be aware of the changing focus of hiring teams this year. So, read on to learn precisely how hiring practices are going to change in 2023!
What’s Happening In The Industry In 2023?
The start of 2023 gave a pretty clear indication for what to expect in the year ahead. In January, technology firms across the globe declared they would be laying off employees and cutting down on project costs. Google’s parent company Alphabet shared plans to reduce its global headcount by 12,000 – a cut of around 6%, a number that the company is reaching closer to, with each passing day. In fact, together the biggest tech companies – Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft – have cut 50,000 jobs. This trend extends to small and mid-size tech companies, who aggressively hired during the pandemic but now find themselves unable to manage such a large workforce. The same is true for the Indian technology sector, as roughly 80,000 to 1,20,000 IT employees are expected to be laid off this year, according to B.S. Murthy, chief executive of Leadership Capital, a CXO recruitment firm.
Moreover, the tech industry is expected to hire at a much slower rate than before. Businesses want to streamline their expenses by maintaining the bare minimum workforce to do the job – across teams, locations and designations. If a two-man team can do the work of five employees, albeit at a slightly higher wage, businesses will choose to lay off three employees. This means several experienced workers from the technology industry will be looking for jobs soon. Needless to say, there will be more candidates than vacancies since businesses are still cautious about rebuilding their workforce in 2023.
Another factor to consider is the economic downturn predicted for 2023. According to Bloomberg Research, more than one in three global economies will contract in 2023, and there is a 25% chance that the global GDP will grow by less than 2%. This has been termed a “global recession”, which will be characterized by higher-than-normal unemployment rates and fewer hirings. This will inevitably lead to higher competition among prospective candidates.
So, the question candidates need to ask themselves: what is going to give me a competitive edge?
Here’s What Candidates Need To Work On In 2023
There will be a major change in the mindset of HRs and talent acquisition teams in 2023: finding the most suitable candidate will entail finding the candidate with the most suitable skills. There will be a
shift in hiring as individuals will be hired based on their skills, and not experience. According to research by Toggl, 64% of companies agreed that testing skills leads to faster candidate screening, but only 40% had invested in such a screening tool in 2021. This number is expected to rise significantly in 2023.
Hence, potential employees are expected to focus on reskilling and upskilling in 2023. Candidates with up-to-date and relevant skills are perceived as “future-proof” and more likely to adapt to the dynamic demands of a job. It also keeps the workforce competitive in an ever-expanding market, giving it an edge over competitors. Furthermore, developing new skills helps your CV stand out from others with similar profiles. For example, if another candidate has 2 years of additional experience in the industry compared to you, but does not have the latest technical skills (software, coding, certification, etc.), you will be the preferred hiring option. The important skill in the spotlight will be the ability to adapt and change, along with an attitude to learn new competencies.
Skill-based hiring also enables businesses to explore cross-team collaborations and skill transfers, while enabling the candidate to move up the chain faster. However, the major theme in 2023 is cost-cutting: a pre-skilled employee does not incur the time and cost needed for training, evaluation and upskilling.
A Fortune 500 company that conducted a talent mapping initiative had to reskill more than 6,000 employees for new roles and upskill over 20,000 employees in existing roles. This was 80% of the skill gap, so they still had to go outside the company pool for one in five jobs. A blog by Brookings highlights this point: roughly 2.4 million positions in the manufacturing technology industry will remain vacant from 2018 to 2028 due to skill gaps. Candidates with niche industry skills will be in higher demand.
Hence, every candidate needs to focus on crucial, in-demand industry-specific skills in 2023. Based on your current level, you can choose from massive open online courses (MOOCs), paid upskilling courses, corporate certifications, etc. An individual’s CV that has the relevant and requisite skills will be what catches the eye in 2023!
To Sum Up
The best time to upskill is now. Even if you feel like you have job security, we are heading into turbulent times ahead. To stay prepared and remain ahead of your competition, focus on upskilling and polishing existing skills. Highlight them on your CV and online portfolios to get access to better opportunities and promotions. The only way to beat the uncertainty ahead is to develop, reskill and upskill!