In 2023, layoffs disproportionately impacted recruiters and human resources professionals as companies in various sectors conducted widespread workforce reductions and enacted hiring freezes. The need for HR, talent acquisition and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) professionals dropped as hiring activity stalled, especially in the tech sector. While other areas within tech organizations saw headcount reduced by 10% to 20%, companies downsized 50% of tech recruiters, the Wall Street Journal reported. The demand for these services slowed down in the recent challenging economic environment marred by high inflation, steep interest rates and subsequent corporate belt-tightening.
However, that could all change in the next 12 months. A December survey by recruiting firm Robert Half revealed that 57% of hiring managers plan to add new permanent positions in the first half of 2024. The data suggests a strong demand for talent acquisition professionals in the coming year.
Additionally, HR decision-makers and recruiters are optimistic about the future of recruiting, with 86% of talent practitioners expressing positivity about what the future of talent acquisition holds, according to research by Jobvite.
Over the next year, 61% of companies expect to increase investment in this function. The investment outlook for 2024 shows that more than half of the budget increase will be allocated toward AI-powered recruiting tools, followed by DEI initiatives, candidate relationship management, applicant tracking systems, career sites, sourcing technologies, job boards and offers.
Trend Forecast For 2024
The following 12 months will bring about significant changes for HR and people leaders, with five key trends shaping the industry.
1. Intentionality Regarding Hybrid Work
“The office should be a magnet, not a mandate,” Francine Katsoudas, executive vice president and chief people, policy and purpose officer of Cisco, said in a video interview. The roles of human resources and people leaders will continue to morph into that of event planners to draw workers to the office in an intentional way, according to Katsoudas. “This role of being an ‘event planner’ is new for leaders, and represents a shift in how and why we come together,” she said.
2. Upskilling
“There was a time when people finished their formal schooling and assumed that’s where the learning ended,” Katsoudas stated about past workforce education and training. “What we know now is that continual re-skilling and upskilling is necessary as technology continues to advance and requisite skills evolve. Add in the emergence of AI, and we know that new skills will be needed not just by potential talent, but for existing talent to adapt and succeed in the workplace too.”
3. Automation
An artificial intelligence report by Eightfold found that 92% of HR leaders plan to ramp up their use of automation in at least one area of talent acquisition and people management. Companies will enhance their HR operations by adopting AI to source talent, manage employee records, process payroll, administer employee benefits, oversee employee performance and productivity, screen résumés of candidates and track applicants, onboard new staff and offboard employees.
4. Predictive Analytics And Data-Driven HR
People analytics and data-driven HR practices enable employers to make more informed decisions about their workforce. Organizations will see an uptick in using tools that predict the likelihood of a candidate accepting a job offer. HR and people leaders will also draw insights from productivity metrics, turnover rate tracking and talent management platform data.
5. DEI
A majority of HR decision-makers (75%) stated that their company would prioritize diversity hiring, according to the Jobvite data. In EY’s Belonging Barometer 3.0, 63% of Gen-Z workers reported they would choose a company that prioritizes DEI over one that doesn’t. This figure is noteworthy as Zoomers will comprise 30% of the labor force by 2025.
Moreover, with the ascension of AI, DEI will play a vital role in mitigating biases in hiring algorithms.
Source: Forbes
