3 Ways HR Has Responded to Latest Hiring Trends

The hiring trends that defined us a year ago – both widespread layoffs and painful worker shortages, depending on your industry – haven’t gone away in this year.

Specifically, in health care and manufacturing, the talent shortage persists, while tech and journalism continue to see job cuts.

HR Has Responded, Adjusted

With a little perspective on yearly trends, we can take a look at how HR has responded and adjusted most recently.

Based on the data we gathered from 41.4 million unique job postings throughout the year and media reports of the job market, here’s a look at how hiring teams are adjusting this year.

Trend 1: Demand for Salary Transparency

Last year, the number of job listings that included salary data increased by 38% (from 24% of vacancies in January to 33% in December). This was driven largely by listings in California, Washington and New York state, where salary transparency laws took effect.

Of note is that while salary transparency was most common in states that mandate it, transparency increased in every state. That’s telling, especially in a year where many analysts suggested some of the power that workers held during the Great Resignation returned to employers.

Increased transparency doesn’t just benefit job seekers though. According to our data, job listings that include salary data can get filled between 12% and 25% faster (depending on the industry) than those that don’t.

Response: Salary transparency remains popular this year, and new research suggests there’s a right way to do it: Include salary ranges in job listings rather than making applicants ask. This promotes equity, according to a recent study by the National Women’s Law Center.

Trend 2: Workers Value Flexible Work

Remote vacancies decreased by 11% in 2023, from a year-high of 3.8 percent of all openings in January, to a low of 3% in November.

The change is no surprise to anyone who paid attention to the return to office (RTO) mandates in much of the economy. But it also represents a big opportunity for employers not yet offering remote work – especially those looking for a way to manage costs.

Here’s why: Among those currently working hybrid positions, 32% would accept a pay cut in exchange for a fully remote position. That’s almost a third! On average, these workers would accept an 18% salary reduction to be free of commuting. And no wonder: Mean distance from the workplace has nearly tripled since pre-pandemic (from 10 miles to 27), per a new report.

It’s also important to highlight that remote work is a very small part of the U.S. workforce. Only 3% of jobs are advertised as remote. Even if the actual number is double or triple that, it still means that more than 90% of the workforce is either back in the office, or was always in the workplace. For instance, consider Amazon warehouse jobs or Walmart store jobs.

Response: Even if you’re not ready to go fully remote, there’s opportunity here if your workers’ jobs aren’t location-dependent. Workers who report to the office every day view a hybrid schedule as equivalent to an 8% raise.

At the macro level, offering remote work can drive organizational growth. Public companies that mandated RTO last year saw staffing increases of just 2.6%, compared with 5.6% increases for organizations that were fully remote.

In other words, if your organization is looking for opportunities to manage costs while also spurring growth – and remote work is a viable option – take another look at letting employees work from home.

Trend 3: Vacancy Duration Varies

The talent market in recent years feels different depending on the industry you’re in. This was illustrated by our vacancy duration data: while 31% of open jobs were filled in one week or less last year, another 9% were open for 13 or more weeks.

Response: Certainly some factors are outside of your control, but our data revealed several levers you can pull to increase your odds of filling an open role fast:

1. Post open jobs on a Monday. Just 6% of job vacancies were posted on a Monday in 2023, meaning your new listing will have the least competition for eyeballs if you publish as soon as the weekend ends.
2. Include salary in the job posting. As I mentioned above, including salary data can lead to a shorter vacancy duration. Workers like salary data, so it’s no wonder publishing it attracts the best of the best and lets employers fill open roles fast.
3. Optimize your listings for Google for Jobs. Google for Jobs serves job vacancy information as “rich snippets” on search pages. Here’s the catch, though: only those jobs published with appropriate structured data will appear here. Make sure jobs on your company website adhere to Google’s standards, and consult with your job board(s) of choice to make sure they format jobs appropriately, as well. When you do, you maximize the odds of increasing the total number of people who see your listing.

One Trend to Buck in 2024? Employer Ghosting

One trend we’ve seen discussed on LinkedIn is employers “ghosting” applicants – sometimes after several rounds of interviews. My recommendation is to avoid this at all costs. Pushing back against internal guidelines that suggest this is an efficient way to operate.

My thinking: In addition to being a bad experience for candidates, ghosting can ricochet to hurt the brand and your future hiring ability. Anyone can review you online, and any negative review has the power to backfire.

Already this year, we’re seeing additional tech layoffs. Interest rates remain high. Hiring teams are grappling with plenty of challenges. Still, if at all possible, close the loop with any candidate you’ve actually spoken to. This small gesture will mean a lot given the current environment and will help bolster your organization’s reputation in hiring cycles to come.