When the world changed last year, so did the recruitment market. It swiftly changed from a candidate-scarce market to a candidate-rich market. Companies began calling the shots, hiring at their own pace and not competing for talent as much as in previous years. From a recruitment perspective this has had significant ramifications that hiring managers need to be aware of. As such Butler Ross have compiled our findings on what has changed and the implications of a candidate rich market.

Quantity does not mean quality

You might think a candidate rich market is a dream for employers. However more choice does not necessarily mean these candidates have the right skills or experience you are looking for. Your vacancies will be inundated with applications meaning the process to then identify candidates with the correct skills becomes more difficult and time intensive.

Senior candidates will apply for junior positions

Due to the increased competition, some senior candidates will consider lower level roles. This can have upsides and downsides. They will hit the ground running quicker, require less training and you will have a more experienced candidate with a wider knowledge base. However will they be as willing to diversify and learn new skills? Can they be easily managed? Will they find joy and challenge in their position? They also may be less flexible with their other non-negotiable's, such as work-life balance, location or the option to work remotely.

Communication expectations double

Any candidate’s biggest frustration during a recruitment process is lack of communication. In a candidate-rich market the pressure to retain clear channels of communication intensifies. The expectation on how often and by what means you communicate becomes more complex and if you don’t fully engage your candidate pool, your dream candidate will lose interest, be more inclined to decline your interview/offer or accept other offers/counter-offers.

Candidates are after stability

Many candidates looking for work have been in the job market for a year or more. Because of this, job security has become far more attractive than salary. As part of the recruitment process, you will need to demonstrate there is a stable pipeline of work and that their job is secure.

The top talent is not on the market long.

The top talent are receiving 3-4 offers yet our figures suggest that 80% of candidates will accept the first job offer they receive. This top talent pool is not on the market for months but instead weeks.

Candidates are hunkering down

Many candidates are unwilling to consider new opportunities for fear of redundancy (last in first out). Instead sitting tight and hunkering down until the recruitment and economic landscapes change. The pool may be candidate rich but enticing away the top talent is still difficult.