2021 was a big year in recruitment with the economy opening back up and companies starting to build teams back up again after a difficult period. We look at the trends that emerged in 2021 and what this means in 2022.

Key Takeaways

1. 2021 saw some interesting trends in technology with a focus on automation
2. Candidate experience has also become an essential part of the recruitment process
3. These trends will continue to grow in 2022 and companies need to adapt their hiring process

Trends Emerging in 2021

Technology

A Gartner report revealed that 17% of organisations are already using AI to hire candidates with another 30% predicted to start doing it in 2022. Automation has seen a big rise in 2021 with companies looking for ways to speed up the hiring process and allow more time for value-added tasks. This could be anything from resume screening, automating interview scheduling and utilising chatbots.

Capterra also reported that 75% of recruiters have been using Applicant Tracking Systems to automate the recruitment process and help improve the experience for both candidates and clients. Virtual interviews also look like they are here to stay with many companies opting to keep this as part of the recruitment process.

Candidate Experience

Recruitment has shifted to a candidate led environment, so it is now more important than ever that companies consider the candidate experience. Candidates view how they are treated during the recruitment process as a signal of how they would be treated as an employee. This has meant organisations, and the recruiters working on their behalf, have needed to up their game and provide the best possible experience throughout the hiring process.

Diversity

Diversity has also continued to be an important area of recruitment as companies look for ways to better diversity their workforce. Removing conscious or unconscious bias from the recruitment process has helped establish a more diverse workforce which can lead to increased cultural awareness, better quality applicants and increased marketing opportunities.

Headhunting

With their being a skill shortage in 2021, more companies looked to an executive search to attract the best talent. If you want to attract the most qualified employees, you need to utilise both passive and active candidates to create the biggest talent pool. Executive searches accounted for a larger share of the recruitment market in 2021 with more companies utilising this service to try and poach the best candidates in their sector.

Recruitment in 2022

The trends that emerged in 2021 will continue to be important in 2022. Technology is only going to become more essential to help improve processes through automation and make the experience better for both candidate and company. The skills shortage that emerged in 2021 will continue to be an issue so expect to see more reliance on executive search and the importance of recruiters delivering a positive experience to help attract the best talent.

Summary

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