Talent tales or reality part I: Nobody is changing jobs during the pandemic

You wouldn’t be alone in thinking that in the pandemic era, people are clinging to their jobs and unwilling to rock the boat and seek out new roles. Why introduce more change into what has already been on many fronts the weirdest and worst year of all time? 

The problem is, you’re wrong. It’s not just that people have continued to change jobs over the course of the pandemic: according to a study by Ceridian released in November 2020, 64% of American workers said they were looking for new job opportunities or would consider moving jobs if approached by another company. 

Why are they moving? From our experience, it’s because the pandemic and other disruptive events have caused a fundamental shift in the way we work. While people in traditional roles may feel less inclined to move until they can refocus post pandemic, others in high demand right now may feel it’s the best time to move. The pandemic has in many instances given candidates a democratized, louder voice when it comes to negotiating career choices and benefits. And location may no longer be a limitation. 

Employers on the other hand are navigating completely uncharted territory and are having to work harder to secure those high demand candidates. Make no mistake: during the pandemic, high unemployment did not create what we know as a traditional employer’s market. The pandemic has completely moved the goalposts, and as COVID-19 vaccines begin emerging across the world, talent acquisition has become that much more complicated. Many employers have reached a tipping point where they’ve survived the pandemic, but fear a pending downfall in not being able to secure the top talent they need to boost revenues and bounce back in a competitive way. 

As the Ceridian study notes, candidates are seeking out roles that they will intend to stay in for a significant amount of time, and while pay is still a top motivator, engaging work trumps all in today’s market. Employers are having to really differentiate and many have invested heavily in making their Employer Brand stand out. 

The in-house recruitment struggle is real, and we’re speaking to companies daily who recognize the value of outsourcing talent acquisition to a trusted partner. As an employer, now that you know you’ve got an active candidate market to tap into, it’s time to get moving.  If you’d like to see how we’re helping companies globally, get in touch today.

This has been part I in our Talent Tales or Reality? Series. In part II, we’ll be looking at the new graduate job landscape.

  1.  https://www.ceridian.com/ca/company/newsroom/2020/ceridian-report-employee-experience-paramount-in-the-future-of-work

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