Recruitment Marketing Roundup for January 5, 2024

Rod HessBy Rod Hess
January 5th, 2024 • 7 Minutes

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The recruitment marketing landscape is transforming in 2024. From cooling labor markets to booming sectors like climate tech, understanding the latest trends is essential for attracting top talent.

Talent acquisition will be defined by pivotal AI-driven business transformations, booming climate tech industry despite big tech layoffs, slower hiring rates demanding an industry-specific recruiting focus and unequal job market experiences for the employed vs unemployed.

Here is your first Recruitment Marketing Roundup for 2024!

2024: The Year That Changes Business Forever (Podcast)

Josh Bersin’s 2023 podcast recap and 2024 outlook discuss the year as a pivotal point for businesses due to labor shortages, company redesigns and AI-driven transformation. He highlights the resilience of the economy in 2023 despite fears of recession, changes in consumer behavior and the impact of rising interest rates. The cultural and political landscape, particularly around DEI programs, along with challenges in employee engagement and burnout, are also noted. Bersin emphasizes AI’s transformative role in various business domains and the move towards more dynamic, non-hierarchical organizational structures, advocating for Systemic HR and a focus on AI literacy for HR professionals.

Talent Acquisition in a Transforming Business Landscape

  • Adaptation to Dynamic Organizational Structures: Recruitment strategies should evolve to support more agile, cross-functional team structures.
  • Embracing AI in Recruitment: Leverage AI tools for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in the recruitment process.
  • Focus on Employee Experience: Address issues of burnout and engagement, emphasizing work-life balance and employee well-being in recruitment messaging.
  • Systemic HR Approach: Incorporate holistic HR strategies that align with the overall business transformation and evolving labor market dynamics.

US job openings, quits near three-year low as labor market eases

U.S. job openings dropped to a near three-year low in November, with a decrease of 62,000 to 8.790 million. This decline, along with reduced quits and layoffs, indicates a cooling labor market. Despite these trends, labor market conditions remain relatively strong with more job openings than unemployed individuals. The reduction in job openings, particularly in transportation, warehousing and utilities, contrasts with an increase in the wholesale trade sector. Hiring rates and job quits also fell, signaling a slowdown in labor market dynamics.

Strategic Insights for Recruitment Marketing

  • Adjusting to a Cooling Market: Recruitment strategies should adapt to the cooling labor market, focusing on sectors with persistent job openings.
  • Emphasizing Job Stability: With fewer people quitting, emphasize job security and long-term career growth in recruitment marketing messaging.
  • Sector-Specific Focus: Pay attention to sectors like wholesale trade, which are showing increased vacancies and adapt recruitment strategies accordingly.
  • Balancing Supply and Demand: Be mindful of the changing dynamics between the number of job openings and unemployed individuals, ensuring recruitment efforts align with market conditions.

Climate tech might be the hot job market in 2024

Despite widespread layoffs in the tech sector in 2023, climate tech emerged as a growing field. Clean energy jobs grew by 10% in the past two years, outperforming the broader economy. The Inflation Reduction Act predicts significant growth in fields like wind turbine technicians and solar photovoltaic installers. While some startups in climate tech faced challenges, many are actively hiring across various roles. However, there’s a noted skills gap, as roles in climate tech often require specific knowledge in climate or energy. This may not align perfectly with the skills of those laid off from general tech sectors.

Attracting Talent to the Booming Climate Tech Industry

  • Targeting Tech Professionals: Position climate tech as an attractive option for those laid off from the general tech sector, emphasizing the growth and potential in this field.
  • Bridging the Skills Gap: Develop recruitment strategies that include training programs or emphasize the need for climate or energy knowledge to attract candidates from broader tech backgrounds.
  • Highlighting Growth Areas: Focus on fast-growing job fields within climate tech, like wind turbine technicians and solar installers, in recruitment campaigns.

Job data shows two kinds of workers: the ‘haves and have nots,’ economist says

The U.S. job market is showing signs of a two-tiered system, with strong job security for current workers but challenges for the unemployed in finding new jobs. Hiring rates have decreased to the lowest since 2017 and quits have also slowed, indicating less job hopping. Despite this, layoffs remain historically low, suggesting that companies are hesitant to release their current workforce. This trend implies a more stable job environment for existing employees but a more challenging landscape for job seekers.

Navigating a Dual-Layered Job Market

  • Targeted Outreach: Focus recruitment marketing efforts on industries that are still hiring actively, like construction and durable goods manufacturing.
  • Emphasizing Stability: Highlight job stability and security in recruitment campaigns to attract candidates seeking long-term employment.
  • Navigating a Two-Tiered Market: Develop strategies to engage both currently employed individuals looking for better opportunities and unemployed job seekers facing a tougher market.
  • Preparing for Rate Cuts: Anticipate possible shifts in hiring trends if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, potentially leading to increased hiring in certain sectors.

Finding a New Job Is Getting Harder

In 2023, the U.S. job market experienced a decline in job postings with a more than 15% drop from the previous year. However, they remained above pre-pandemic levels. This decline reflects a slowdown in the frenzied hiring and worker shortages seen earlier in the pandemic recovery. Yet, unemployment remains low. The decrease in openings was particularly notable in sectors like human resources and marketing, while in-person roles in nursing, child care and food service saw more robust hiring.

Adjusting to Shifting Labor Market Trends

  • Sector-Specific Recruitment: Adapt recruitment marketing strategies to focus on sectors still showing strong hiring, such as in-person service roles.
  • Highlighting Stability: In sectors with declining job postings, emphasize job stability and career advancement opportunities to attract candidates.
  • Navigating a Changing Market: Prepare for potential changes in wage dynamics and job seeker behavior due to shifts in the labor market.
  • Responsive Strategy: Stay vigilant to changes in the economy and job market, ready to adjust recruitment marketing strategies accordingly.

15 Jobs Americans Quit the Most in 2023 — Including 2 That Pay Over $100K

Payscale’s 2023 End-of-Year Job Market Report reveals the top 15 jobs with the highest quit rates in the U.S. for 2023. These jobs, predominantly in healthcare and technology sectors, include Senior Product Managers and Phlebotomists at the top. Factors contributing to high quit rates include work-life imbalance, stress, feeling under-challenged and dissatisfaction with pay and benefits.

Strategies for Attracting Talent in High-Turnover Roles

  • Focus on Work-Life Balance: Emphasize work-life balance in job postings and company culture to attract candidates in high-turnover roles.
  • Addressing Job Dissatisfaction Factors: Tailor recruitment strategies to address specific dissatisfaction factors such as stress or inadequate compensation.
  • Targeting Healthcare and Tech Sectors: Prioritize recruitment efforts in healthcare and tech, sectors with high turnover rates, to tap into the pool of professionals seeking new opportunities.
  • Highlighting Benefits and Growth Opportunities: Stress the benefits, career growth opportunities and competitive compensation in recruitment campaigns to appeal to candidates in these high-turnover roles.

Finding a New Job Is Getting Harder

The job market in 2023 saw a significant decrease in job postings compared to the start of the year, with a more than 15% drop, as reported by Indeed. Despite this decline, the number of job postings remained higher than pre-pandemic levels. The decrease in postings was more pronounced in sectors like human resources and marketing, while in-person roles such as nursing and food service remained stronger. The overall labor market trends suggest a balancing out, with lower quits rates indicating either increased job satisfaction or uncertainty about finding new opportunities.

Adapting Your Recruitment Marketing

  • Sector-Specific Strategies: Focus on industries still showing strong job openings, especially in-person roles, for targeted recruitment efforts.
  • Adapting to Market Changes: Be prepared for a potentially slower economy and its impact on various sectors, adjusting recruitment strategies accordingly.
  • Understanding Job Seeker Behavior: Monitor trends in job seeker confidence and satisfaction to tailor recruitment messaging and strategies.
  • Anticipating Wage Dynamics: Stay aware of changes in wage growth patterns across different sectors to inform competitive compensation packages.

Tech, biotech layoffs jolt Bay Area job market as staff cutbacks widen

In 2023, the Bay Area witnessed significant job cuts in the tech and biotech sectors, with several companies announcing layoffs affecting hundreds of employees. Companies like Talis Biomedical, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Renesas Electronics and Western Digital, among others, revealed plans for substantial staffing reductions. The layoffs, described as permanent, reflect a challenging year for employment in the tech industry, with the total number of job cuts more than doubling from 2022.

Capitalizing on the Shift in Tech and Biotech Job Market

  • Opportunity to Attract Tech Talent: Leverage the influx of available talent due to layoffs for recruitment in growing sectors or companies.
  • Emphasizing Job Security: Highlight stability and growth potential in job advertisements to appeal to candidates affected by the industry’s volatility.
  • Regional Focus: Tailor recruitment strategies to the Bay Area, where a significant pool of tech and biotech professionals is available due to these cutbacks.

Meet 5 workers who quit their jobs to work in AI — and find out how they pivoted into tech’s hottest field

The article profiles five individuals who left their traditional jobs to pursue careers in AI, recognizing the vast opportunities in this fast-growing field. These career switchers hail from diverse backgrounds like accounting, product management, defense and music. They either started their own AI-related companies or acquired new skills to work in AI. The shift to AI careers was driven by the significant advancements in the field, high demand for AI expertise across various industries and the lucrative opportunities it presents.

Tapping Into the AI Career Boom

  • Highlight AI Career Opportunities: Emphasize the growing opportunities in AI to attract professionals looking for dynamic and future-oriented careers.
  • Focus on Transferable Skills: Encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply, focusing on how their existing skills can transition into AI roles.
  • Promote Continuous Learning: Encourage ongoing education and skill development in AI, catering to professionals seeking to pivot their careers.
  • Leverage Success Stories: Use examples of successful career transitions into AI to inspire and attract potential candidates.

Where the Job Market Is Heading in 2024, in Six Charts

The labor market in 2024 is expected to experience a cooling trend with slower hiring and a slight rise in unemployment. This could contribute to a “soft landing” for the U.S. economy. Factors contributing to this trend include higher interest rates, reduced urgency in hiring and an increased pool of available workers. Hiring has become concentrated in specific industries like healthcare and hospitality, with wage growth slowing down across sectors. The unemployment rate is forecasted to increase modestly. There’s also a noted decline in temporary hiring, often a bellwether for broader labor market trends.

Navigating the 2024 Labor Market Shifts

  • Industry-Specific Focus: Concentrate recruitment marketing efforts on sectors showing continued growth, such as healthcare and hospitality.
  • Adapting to Slower Hiring Trends: Prepare for a more competitive job market with potentially fewer openings.
  • Emphasizing Stability and Benefits: With unemployment rising slightly, highlight job stability and benefits to attract candidates.
  • Monitoring Wage Growth Trends: Stay aware of the changing pace of wage growth to offer competitive compensation packages.

For a comprehensive list of talent acquisition and recruitment marketing tools to help with your hiring efforts, visit our marketplace now.

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