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Over Half of Employers Plan to Hire New Workers in 2021 — HR Recruiting

In 2021, over 80% of employers are going to be focusing on hiring more staff, either to replace lost employees due to 2020, or as a means of opening up new roles and expanding.[1]

The light on the horizon comes in the form of two surveys conducted by Monster detailing that more than 8 out of 10 employers (82% to be exact) plan on hiring more employees in 2021. This spells good news for everyone who is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic.

The first Monster survey was completed by 3,100 respondents who all occupy HR, talent acquisition, and recruitment positions in companies and businesses throughout the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Sweden. The second survey was answered by over 7,000 employees working more than 24 hours/week in those same 8 countries with the survey gauging their experiences and expectations for 2021, with each survey being published mid-December 2020.[2]

 

Work from home or office Pivotal HR Solutions Blog
Over 50 percent of employers plan to hire in 2021. Some may be remote work, while others may be work on location with safeguards.

Throughout the European nations, 47% of respondents showed that they will be recruiting to backfill all of their lost positions from the pandemic, with an additional 35% indicating that they will be hiring new staff to expand their workforce. In the US, the same hiring rate of 82% was seen with 42% of respondents saying they will be backfilling and 40% more saying they will be hiring for new positions.

Scott Gutz, the CEO of Monster, said in a press conference that “the results revealed that recruiters and HR professionals are taking an optimistic approach to the new year”.[3]

And with the age-old argument of working from home finally being dismissed, both employers and employees will now be able to expect greater levels of flexibility along with improved access to online work from home opportunities.

 


Are you recruiting in 2021? Ask the HR Recruitment experts how they can help make the process safe and productive. Contact the HR Solutions team>>


The Monster CEO expects that the second half of 2021 in particular will see the greater part of the increase in hiring internationally.[4]

The Top Industries For 2021

The industries seeking to hire to make up for the number of jobs lost in 2020 include healthcare (indicated by 59% of respondents), finance/banking (53%), and real estate (56%), while 49% of respondents from the tech industry indicated plans for adding new jobs to grow the industry, making this the top industry for the creation of new positions. Additionally, blue-collar jobs such as skilled trades along with some grey-collar jobs are also seeing moderate increases in hiring at 38% and 37% respectively.[5]

According to the survey, large companies in particular are exhibiting the highest levels of hiring confidence throughout the above-mentioned industries.

The Industries That Have Frozen in 2021

Conversely, the employment segments that aren’t looking so optimistic include many small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) along with the retail industry and leisure/hospitality industries. Many within these segments are actually anticipating a hiring freeze in 2021. Only 24% of SMB respondents reported intentions of new or backfill hires, with 20% for retail and 32% for leisure/hospitality respondents.

The Challenges Recruiters Face When Hiring

The confidence that recruiters have for finding the right candidate compared to the start of 2020 is down to 93% from 95%. While this figure is still high, it may very well be the result of a growing skills gap and added difficulties from the growing use of online interviews and recruitment. 87% of employers who took part indicated that they had struggled in some way with recruitment due to a skills gap, with 40% claiming that the gap has recently increased.[6]

The top 4 challenges indicated by recruiters for 2021 include the assessment of candidates during interviews (indicated by 41% of recruiter respondents), quickly identifying quality candidates (40%), pre-screening candidates before interviews (36%), and engaging with and getting responses from candidates (31%).

There is still of course room for improvement in terms of how companies and businesses adapt to the new work environment caused by the pandemic. However, 42% have already switched to flexible work schedules, 41% have introduced remote work flexibility options, and 40% have introduced new health policies and protocols.


Are you recruiting in 2021? Ask the HR Recruitment experts how they can help make the process safe and productive.

Contact Pivotal

 

 

NOTES

[1]Monster Special Report, The Future of Work 2021 Global Outlook, https://media.newjobs.com/cms/content30/images/Future-of-Work_2021-Global-Outlook.report.pdf

[2] Monster Special Report, The Future of Work 2021 Global Outlook, https://media.newjobs.com/cms/content30/images/Future-of-Work_2021-Global-Outlook.report.pdf

[3] Cision.com, “Monster Announces the Results of 2021 Future of Work Survey”, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monster-announces-the-results-of-2021-future-of-work-survey-301215440.html#:~:text=Yet%20despite%20the%20volatility%20caused,plan%20to%20hire%20in%202021.&text=%22The%20results%20revealed%20that%20recruiters,new%20year%2C%22%20said%20Gutz.

[4] Hrreporter.com, “Positive hiring outlook for 2021”, https://www.hrreporter.com/focus-areas/recruitment-and-staffing/positive-hiring-outlook-for-2021/337395

[5] Monster Special Report, The Future of Work 2021 Global Outlook, https://media.newjobs.com/cms/content30/images/Future-of-Work_2021-Global-Outlook.report.pdf

[6] Staffingindustry.com, “Employers Upbeat on Hiring: Monster” https://www2.staffingindustry.com/site/Editorial/Daily-News/Employers-upbeat-on-hiring-Monster-56524

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