The decade is coming to a close. With a new one on the horizon, HR professionals should look at important trends and statistics in hiring, workplace culture, and human resources to be prepared for the new year. After all, the world of work is constantly evolving; there are more job openings than candidates to fill them, workers are less likely to remain loyal to their employers, and flexible work environments have rapidly grown in popularity.
Let’s take a look at the most important and current trends to be ready for a strong 2020.
Salary and Job Opening Stats
It’s still a candidate’s job market. One of the most consistent problems we saw for employers this past year was finding enough qualified candidates for open positions. Potential employees have a lot of opportunities and employers have to work fast to recruit and pique interest.
1. 55 million job openings in the economy through 2020: 24 million openings from newly created jobs and 31 million openings due to baby boomer retirements.
2. 35 percent of the job openings will require at least a bachelor’s degree, 30 percent of the job openings will require some college or an associate’s degree and 36 percent of the job openings will not require education beyond high school.
Engagement and Retention Stats
Because of the difficulties finding qualified candidates, companies need to focus on engaging and retaining employees. Let’s look at a few telling stats about what employees say they want and care about. According to a recent Glassdoor survey, these are the top-rated benefits employees look for.
1. Health Insurance
2. Paid maternity and paternity leave
3. Paid time off
4. Student loan reimbursement
5. Flexible work schedules
Benefits and perks work hand-in-hand, but there’s a giant difference in having health insurance as opposed to working remotely. According to Robert Half, here are the top six perks employees want:
1. Flexible work schedules
2. Compressed work week
3. Telecommuting
4. On-site amenities
5. Paid time-off for volunteer activities
6. Employee social events
These could all be considered "alternative benefits," but they still shine a light on what employees want vs. what employers offer.
Hiring and Recruiting Stats
As we mentioned above, one of the top challenges for employers of 2019 was finding enough qualified employees. Let’s look at some telling 2019 stats about hiring and recruitment while we look ahead to the new decade.
Hiring statistics:
2. Certain career fields have a higher demand than others. 5 million IT positions are expected to be added globally by 2027.
Recruiting statistics:
3. Referred employees perform better, on average than non referred employees. By as much as 15%.
4. References are still being used. Eight out of ten recruiters still use references as a screening method.
The world of work has changed drastically from ten years ago. Finding, retaining, and paying employees is a reflection of the current employment landscape, and it’s sure to evolve into the coming decade. Subscribe to our blog to stay up-to-date on all things HR!