Almost 3 years ago, the world paused. Following this, there have been conversations about an economic recession in some areas of Canada (and even around the world). But there are no signs of a recession close to home, especially when you consider all the projects and injections of money into cities like Calgary and Saskatoon from the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
What does this mean? It means we have a labour shortage in almost every sector, in addition to all the other issues happening on a global-scale.
Why Is There a Labour Shortage?
Companies weren’t hiring in the early days of the pandemic. In fact, some laid-off employees.
And because there was less hiring and travel was restricted, job-seekers weren’t relocating. Without new team members, companies weren’t investing in training. There was no succession planning.
But wait, if companies weren’t hiring, where did the talent go?
The answer is complicated, so before you start competing for talent, let us help you understand why the market is currently very heavily candidate-driven.
What’s going on inside the minds of your employees and candidates? And what can you do to retain and attract top talent?
The Great Resignation
Coming out of the past few years, we started to hear about The Great Resignation. Employees have started thinking about whether or not they want to be where they are:
“Is this the right place for me considering how much life I have yet to live, how much time I have left until retirement?”
There was a lot of movement; employees retired early or moved to other companies as they started thinking that the grass was greener on the other side. The market started picking up and becoming competitive again. Projects started up again and everybody’s ready to move forward with their businesses and initiatives–but now everybody is in the war for talent.
Quiet Quitting
At the same time, there are employees who have neither retired nor moved on. Instead, they’re reestablishing what it means to have a work-life balance and performing only as much or little as per their employment contracts. But while the term ‘quiet quitting’ sounds new, the concept is not. For human resources professionals, this form of disengagement has been an area of focus for a while.
Companies have asked a lot of their teams, particularly in the last couple of years: working overtime, going above and beyond in order to meet demand, and more. And now, employees are now choosing to only work according to their job descriptions.
Combined with the existing labour shortage due to The Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting has pushed the job market to the edge.
The Great Rethink
Finally, for the available job-seekers (both active and passive), they’re having a hard time making choices about whether to go or stay. With the gaps in the recruitment market from The Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, there are plenty of opportunities. But what do they want to do with all of their choices:
“Is this company treating me well? Is it a great culture to work in? Or would the succession planning be better for me over with that company?”
Some talent might decide they’re willing to leave for more money. But even with the offer of more money, they might not.
And this is what I call The Great Rethink, as more and more job-seekers reconsider how they want to fit work into their lives—not the other way around.
How Do You Recruit Top Talent?
Of the past 20 years I’ve been in the recruitment industry, this has certainly been the most challenging one. In addition to all of these factors, everybody is fighting for the same talent.
Employees have choices in a candidate-driven market, and they’re all trying to figure out what’s best for them as they understand where they fit in the job market. And when you have an abundance of opportunities, it can be really hard to make a great choice–this is the case for everyone from the frontline to leadership. Sometimes it’s about money, but this isn’t always the case.
Ultimately, if you’re treated fairly at work, the company is competitive, and the workplace culture focuses on its people, you’re likely to stay. As the saying goes, people don’t leave their jobs; they leave their bosses.
In our experience, recruiting top talent means ensuring that we focus on culture fit when hiring. If your team or candidates are not focused on fit or don’t know what you’re looking for, then perhaps it’s not the right hire at this time.
Call Essence Recruitment to learn how we’re continuing to find and secure great talent for our clients in the face of the Canadian labour shortage.
