4 Strategies to Attract Talent In Record-Low Unemployment Times
Strategy #1: it’s not (just) about the 💰
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics announced in September 2018 that US jobless rate dropped to just 3.7%, the lowest unemployment rate in America since 1969.
Despite it being a symptom of a healthy, booming economy, many companies are now struggling to find employees that help them scale and grow.
Job seekers have the upper hand and opportunities are flocking to them left and right.To beat the competition, businesses are offering prospects higher wages and extra benefits, but…
Why do salaries increase during low unemployment times?
The job market is ruled by supply and demand. America’s economic expansion has increased the demand for labor (shift of D1 to D2), and there is a shortage of supply.
Businesses compete for employees, and salaries increase until they find a new equilibrium point.
What can companies that cannot afford to pay extremely high wages do to still attract talent?
1. It’s not all about the 💰💰💰
There are other ways to incentivize and recruit employees other than just higher salaries. In fact, yes, making more money makes you happier, but only up to a certain point — about $75,000 per year. Beyond that, other factors take over.
Company culture and values, work-life balance, leadership and growth opportunities are the biggest drivers of workplace happiness.
Perpetual Guardian, a financial company in New Zealand, established in 2018 a four-day workweek, and they report an increased level of productivity and output. Other companies are now offering one-day work-from-home options too.
Organizations that want to attract the best talent and differentiate themselves from other employers should focus on these non-monetary values instead of blindly offering higher wages.
2. Invest in Automation
Businesses must audit whether more employees are needed or if growth can be managed through automation and digital advancements.
With the incorporation of new software and technological tools, many companies are seeing that they do not need to hire more people –they can do more with less thanks to automation.
Bank of America, for example, announced in 2018 that they would be laying off ten thousand employees because of the increased use of online banking and the diminished demand for physical locations.
Like them, businesses will have to keep an eye on disruptive technology that makes them more productive and decreases the need for extra hiring.
3. Pull talent from developing countries
With unemployment breaking low records in the United States, companies should turn to international job markets with qualified prospects.
Most third-world regions are now educating up to 95% of their population, which combined with newly improved technological opportunities to communicate and work virtually with people around the world, developing countries offer a pool of untapped, quality prospects that businesses should take advantage of.
Job matching platforms such as Upwork, Freelancer.com, and Fiverr connect remote workers from developing countries with American businesses, and they cover all range of virtual roles such as social media management, accounting, marketing, design, website development, etc.
4. Develop Your People for Leadership Roles
And finally, companies need to hire and develop in-house employees. In the current job market, even if more competitive than ever, entry-level jobs have still the largest supply of labor.
On the other hand, executive and leadership roles do have minimal supply and a high demand — so they’re terribly expensive.
In consequence, businesses that cannot afford to hire top positions externally due to current macroeconomic circumstances should hire entry-level jobs and promote from within.
Investing in your employees through training and offering them growth opportunities will not only reduce the cost of outside hires, but it will also lower employee turnover and build a positive company culture.
The Takeaway, aka TLDR:
With the US experiencing record-low unemployment rates, many organizations can’t find enough people to grow.
Those that cannot pay exorbitant salaries, however, should not resign to hire untalented individuals. Instead, they should 1) invest in non-monetary benefits, 2) automate processes, 3) recruit from developing countries, and 4) hire internally.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me here on Medium for more stuff like this.
Marti is a ghostwriter for CEOs, Entrepreneurs, and Investors. He also likes to write about himself in third person. You can find out more about what he does here.
This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by +391,714 people.
Subscribe to receive our top stories here.
