If you are an HR professional, you are used to a dynamic that involves applicants competing for jobs. Now, so speak, jobs are competing for applicants. The pandemic has caused a mental and emotional shift toward work. Workers are re-evaluating work-life balance. Better attuned to how they want employment to work for them, they are placing demands on employers for better benefits, compensation etc.
The Great Resignation is reconfiguring employment practices, and causing employers to create new approaches to sourcing, hiring, and retaining talent. Also, as of November 6, 2021, the number of workers who filed for unemployment benefits was at its lowest level since the onset of the pandemic. The total number of workers who continue to claim unemployment is rapidly reaching pre-pandemic numbers, or rather, the norm. The economy grew during Covid resulting in more job openings than available workers.
We must enter 2022 very aware of the dirth of employees and do our best to effectively source candidates despite the diminished talent pool. The outcome of this disruption can be an increased synergy between worker and employer needs. If we respond correctly to the messages workers are sending and recognize that we must do our best by our employers when sourcing talent, we will succeed.