rachel, Author at GoodTime

15 Text Recruiting Templates for High-Volume Hiring

Posted on May 24, 2023May 23, 2023 by rachel

Recruiter using text recruiting templates

High-volume recruiters, get your texting fingers ready. When you need to fill roles fast and efficiently, text recruiting is the way to go. (It’s the digital age—every candidate’s on their phone.) But you know what’s even better? Using text recruiting templates.

Why settle for crafting individual messages when you can templatize every single one, from the initial outreach to the offer letter? To save both time and effort, here are our 15 crucial text recruiting templates.

If you’re interested in even more ways to elevate your hiring, check out our collection of key high-volume recruiting strategies.

Essential Text Recruiting Templates

Want to reach out to an employee referral and avoid the awkwardness? Or maybe you want to reject a candidate while keeping the good vibes going? We’ve got a template for that.

1. Initial Outreach

Introduce yourself to the candidate and gauge their interest in working for your company.

Hi [Candidate’s Name]! This is [Your Name] from [Company Name]. I came across your profile and was impressed by your qualifications. We have a job opening that aligns perfectly with your skills. Would you be interested in discussing this further?

2. Job Opportunity

Highlight a specific job opportunity and ask to schedule a call.

Hi [Candidate’s Name]! [Your Name] here from [Company Name]. We have a [Job Title] role that matches your expertise. The position involves [brief description]. If you’d like to learn more, let’s schedule a quick call.

3. Employee Referral Outreach

Reach out to a candidate that you’ve sourced via an employee referral.

Hi [Candidate’s Name]! [Employee’s Name] spoke highly of you and recommended you for a [Job Title] role at [Company Name]. Can we set up a time to chat and discuss the details?

4. Networking Event Outreach

Connect with potential candidates you met through networking events.

Hi [Candidate’s Name], this is [Your Name]. It was great to meet you at [Networking Event]. I was impressed by our conversation and thought you might be a great fit for a position at [Company Name]. Let’s schedule a call if you’d like to learn more.

5. Application Reminder

Remind the candidate about their partially completed application and encourage them to continue.

Hi [Candidate’s Name], [Your Name] here from [Company Name]. We noticed you started an application for [Job Title]. We’d love to learn more about you and see if you’re a good fit for the role. Please reach out with any questions; we’re here to help!

6. Application Received

Confirm receipt of the candidate’s application.

Hi [Candidate’s Name]! Just a quick message to let you know we received your application for the [Job Title] position at [Company Name]. We appreciate your interest and will be in touch soon if there’s a match. Thanks!

7. Application Status Update

Inform the candidate about the status of their application.

Hi [Candidate’s Name]! I wanted to update you on the status of your application. At this time, we are still in the process of reviewing applications and will be in touch soon with further updates. We appreciate your patience and interest in joining [Company Name].

8. Scheduling the Phone Screening

Schedule an initial phone screening after reviewing a candidate’s application.

Hi [Candidate’s Name]! Thanks for your interest in the [Job Title] position at [Company Name]. I’d love to connect with you for a quick phone screening. Please book a time that works best for you: [Scheduling Link]

9. Scheduling the Next Interview

After the phone screening, extend an invitation for an interview with the team.

Hi [Candidate’s Name], we’d love to move you to the next round of interviews with the team. Please book a time that works best for you: [Scheduling Link]

10. Interview Confirmation

Confirm a candidate’s upcoming interview and offer the option to reschedule if needed.

Hi [Candidate’s Name], we’re looking forward to continuing the conversation with you! Your interview with [Interviewer Name] is scheduled for [Date] at [Time]. Please reach out if you have any questions. You can use this link if you need to reschedule: [Scheduling Link]

11. Interview Reminder

Remind a candidate of the details for their next interview.

Hi [Candidate’s Name], friendly reminder that your interview with [Interviewer Name] for the [Job Title] role is coming up. We’re excited to speak with you on [Date] at [Time]. Please let us know if you have any questions. You can reschedule if needed here: [Scheduling Link]

12. Job Offer

Extend a job offer to the candidate and provide details for further discussion.

Hi [Candidate’s Name], great news! We were impressed by your skills and would like to extend a job offer. I’ve attached the details, including the offer letter. Looking forward to hearing your decision!

13. Follow-Up After Job Offer

Check-in with the candidate who hasn’t accepted or rejected your job offer yet.

Hi [Candidate’s Name]! I wanted to touch base and see if you have any additional questions or if there’s anything else we can provide to help you make your decision. We look forward to hearing from you!

14. Onboarding

Provide essential information and instructions to candidates who have accepted the job offer.

Hi [Candidate’s Name], congratulations once again on accepting our job offer! We’re thrilled to have you join our team. To kickstart the onboarding process, I’ve attached a detailed outline of what to expect. We’re excited to welcome you!

15. Rejection Notice

Inform the candidate that they were not selected to move forward.

Hi [Candidate’s Name], thank you for your interest in [Company Name]. After careful consideration, we have decided to not move forward with your application. We appreciate your time and wish you the best in your job search. Keep an eye on our future opportunities!

Amp Up Your High-Volume Recruiting

Text recruiting and high-volume recruiting go together like peanut butter and jelly. But text recruiting templates is the secret ingredient you’re direly missing.

With these 15 versatile templates, you can save time and engage with mass amounts of candidates more efficiently. And if you want to take your high-volume recruiting game to the next level, we have just the tool for you.

Our GoodTime Hire for High Volume product gives talent teams advanced automated interview scheduling for high-volume roles through SMS, WhatsApp, and email messaging. Reach out to candidates quickly, schedule interviews effortlessly, and let automation take care of the rest.

See how Hire for High Volume can revolutionize your high-volume recruiting.

The True Cost of Switching Recruitment Technology Providers

Posted on May 23, 2023May 23, 2023 by rachel

Recruiter faced with the cost of switching their technology.

Thinking about replacing your recruitment technology? While a new tool might seem enticing during a sales call, you shouldn’t rush into any decisions. Before moving forward, consider this crucial element: the cost of switching.

We don’t just mean financial costs—we mean all of the switching costs. To help you make an informed decision and avoid potential setbacks, let’s delve into the various factors that contribute to the total cost of changing your recruitment technology.

(Spoiler alert: You might end up spending much, much more than you bargained for.)

But First: A Note on the Capabilities of Your Tech Stack

Before we explore the cost of switching recruitment technology, we must emphasize how vital it is to evaluate technology with a focus on capabilities and efficiency.

Some talent leaders seek to spend more on a new tool with additional features that would increase their team’s productivity. On the flip side, other leaders seek to lower expenses through cheaper technology alternatives.

Unfortunately, the latter often results in leaders evaluating a tool that’s lower priced yet comes with fewer features and efficiency improvements. (The rumors are true: you get what you pay for.)

Buying a lower-priced solution with fewer functionalities puts you in a lose-lose situation. When you account for all of the additional switching costs, you’re still spending a significant amount—yet now your technology has fewer capabilities than before.

What’s more, by having your already stretched-thin team implement new software that is ultimately less efficient, you impede their efforts to hit their goals and risk employee burnout.

In short: don’t fall for the trap of lower upfront software fees. Reflect on the features, impact on efficiency, and hidden costs of switching to ensure you make a smart business decision.

Now, about those switching costs. What are they?

What Are Switching Costs?

The cost of switching refers to all the expenses and efforts involved in transitioning from one product or service to another. Switching costs are divided into two main types: hard costs and soft costs.

Hard costs encompass the direct financial expenses incurred during the switch, such as licensing fees, onboarding and implementation costs, and training expenses.

Soft costs include intangible investments such as time, effort, and the short and long-term impacts on productivity. You won’t find soft costs on a software invoice; they’re expenses that people typically don’t consider, yet they seriously add up.

8 Factors That Impact the Cost of Switching

1. Pricing

Pricing is the most apparent cost when switching recruiting tools. It involves the cost of procuring the new technology, which typically includes an annual or periodic fee.

Keep in mind that pricing can be deceiving. Initial discounts on new technology are often short-lived before the price is ramped back up. If the software you switched to has fewer capabilities, then you’re locked into a contract with a higher price tag for an inferior tool.

Beyond the cost of your potential new software, evaluate if it would deliver additional business value and revenue through improved capabilities and features. Would any cost savings be eroded by decreases in efficiency due to the loss of critical features?

Before making any decisions, it’s crucial to examine if the switch would yield a significant return on investment (ROI) and provide long-term benefits.

2. Efficiency Gains and Losses

One of the most significant costs of switching HR tech solutions is the loss of key features that your current technology provides. For instance, your existing tool may offer a user-friendly interface, automation, customization options, analytics, and other crucial recruiting features.

If the replacement technology lacks these capabilities—as is often the case when jumping to a lower-priced tool—it may decrease efficiencies, increase day-to-day operational costs, and cost you more than any perceived savings upfront.

Ultimately, when you factor in the significant savings gained through increased efficiencies, a tool with higher upfront costs and more features may actually be the most cost-effective option.

Compare the feature set of your existing technology to what the new technology has and doesn’t have. Are you willing to leave behind the capabilities of your current technology? How would this impact your recruitment goals, both long-term and short-term?

3. Time, Cost, and Effort of Implementation

While you might feel tempted to switch to a lower-priced solution, it’s crucial to remember the substantial time, effort, and money involved in the implementation process.

Making the switch means not only grappling with the challenges of adopting new technology but also bidding farewell to all the hard work and resources invested in implementing your current system.

When implementing new technology, you must undergo data migration, integration setup, and training—not to mention paying for implementation fees. This is time-consuming, sometimes requiring a dedicated team to ensure a smooth transition.

4. Workflow Disruptions

Switching technology providers can lead to operational hiccups that impact productivity and revenue generation during the transition period. Employees may need to adapt to new workflows and processes, resulting in a temporary decrease in output and quality of work.

If your talent team is already overburdened, familiarizing themselves with a new tool becomes even more daunting. This is a reality for the majority of teams; according to the 2023 Hiring Insights Report, waves of layoffs impacted 65% of companies last year.

A chart using layoffs data from the 2023 Hiring Insights Report.

Amid these headcount and resource reductions, grappling with change management—without losing sight of hiring objectives—isn’t easy. This ultimately elevates the likelihood and impact of workflow disruptions.

5. Learning Curve

Familiarizing yourself with a new interface and product features is a tedious process that impacts efficiency. Learning how to use a new product effectively requires dedicated time for training, which places additional demands on talent professionals.

You’ll need to divide your attention between learning the new technology and fulfilling your regular responsibilities on the hiring team. This can slow down productivity, lengthen time-to-value, and affect your ability to meet deadlines and deliver optimal results.

Depending on the type of technology you acquire, external teams along with key end users, such as hiring managers, might also have to undergo training to use the tool. This could require you to create and disseminate comprehensive learning and development resources. Assess whether you have the time and capacity for the education that the transition phase requires.

6. Data Migration

Migrating data from your current recruitment technology to a new provider is complex and challenging. In some cases, data migration may not be permitted, or possible, or could be fraught with issues such as data integrity concerns or the loss of valuable historical data.

Investigate the feasibility and implications of data migration before making the switch. Consider what data you would need to transfer, the level of effort, and the impact on ongoing operations. If you risk losing historical data, what is the value of this data to your team and the wider organization?

7. Loss of Integrations

Many recruitment technologies offer integrations with other tools and platforms, enhancing their functionality and efficiency. When switching providers, you risk losing these integrations, which can disrupt workflows and increase costs through manual, time-consuming activities.

Examining the availability and compatibility of integrations with the new technology is essential to determine the impact on your recruiting process. Evaluate whether or not a potential new provider supports your essential integrations.

8. Future Proofing

Consider not only your talent team’s immediate needs but also their future requirements in an ever-changing economic landscape. It’s crucial to choose a technology that supports your team’s growth and adaptability in the long run.

The capabilities of your new tech should offer scalability for the future so that you can keep pace with the changing landscape while maintaining an efficient operation. If the replacement technology can’t scale as you grow, you risk incurring additional costs down the road due to efficiency bottlenecks that require more headcount, or other new tools, to overcome.

Overall, a provider that prioritizes innovation, regular product updates, and feature expansions ensures the most long-term value in a shifting job market.

Don’t Get Stuck With Buyer’s Remorse

The cost of transitioning to a new recruitment technology extends beyond the initial financial investment. Carefully assess all possible switching costs before making a decision.

And while pricing is important, remember: the capabilities of your tech stack are paramount. Strive for a comprehensive solution that elevates the productivity of your team and the effectiveness of your operations, now and well into the future.

Speaking of advanced recruiting technology: ever heard of GoodTime Hire?

Hire’s automated interview scheduling helps you coordinate faster, hire more efficiently, and boost team productivity. No simple scheduling tools here.

Discover how GoodTime Hire can help you revolutionize your interview scheduling.

5 High-Volume Recruiting Strategies to Hire Fast and Efficiently

Posted on May 17, 2023May 22, 2023 by rachel

A talent professional using high-volume recruiting strategies.

Life comes at you fast in high-volume recruiting. In this profession, speed combined with efficiency is the name of the game—and the key to winning top talent. Yet if you don’t have solid high-volume recruiting strategies, you’re on the path towards missing your hiring goals.

Juggling multiple open positions while striving to fill them with the best candidates quickly is a tough task. But with the right strategies in place, no obstacle is insurmountable.

Read on for five tried and true high-volume recruiting strategies, specifically designed for success. We’ll delve into the world of text message recruiting, highlight the benefits that the right technology can bring, and much more.

Strategy 1: Leverage Social Media and Digital Advertising

High-volume hiring relies on having an abundance of applicants for your many open roles (it’s not called high-volume hiring for nothing). So, what do you do if applications are scarce? You amp up your recruitment marketing.

Social media and digital advertising are powerful tools for reaching a large pool of candidates rapidly. High-volume recruiters can leverage targeted advertising to attract candidates suited for their open positions.

You can also utilize sponsored content and job listings to expand the reach of your opportunities. For increased response rates, consider leveraging SMS campaigns to capture candidates’ attention.

To get talent in the door once they see a job posting, remember to craft engaging job posts that stand out among the competition. Consistent branding across social media platforms and regular monitoring of campaigns will ensure your candidate pipeline is always full.

Strategy 2: Use a Text/SMS-Based Approach

It’s the era of instant communication, and it’s time to get with the times. Leveraging SMS and text message recruiting can seriously boost your high-volume recruiting efforts.

Implementing an SMS-based application and hiring process helps you streamline candidate engagement and increase response rates. Start by creating a mobile-friendly application form that allows candidates to easily apply through their phones.

Next, optimize the rest of your hiring process for mobile users by messaging candidates once you’ve reviewed their applications and are ready to get their interview on the books. Automated responses can provide instant confirmation, reducing the time spent on manual follow-ups.

At this stage, using the help of an interview scheduling tool that’s tailored for high volume/text recruiting gives you a major advantage by simplifying the scheduling process for both recruiters and applicants alike.

Strategy 3: Templatize Your Communication With Candidates

Time is of the essence in high-volume recruiting, yet communicating with a large number of candidates individually can be a daunting task. Mass communication without a firm strategy leaves substantial room for error.

No one wants to be the recruiter who became so overwhelmed that they referred to a candidate by the wrong name. But luckily, there’s a better, smarter way to communicate. That’s where templatizing your communication comes in.

By creating standardized email and/or SMS templates—whatever your preferred mode of communication may be—you can save valuable time while ensuring consistent and professional interactions with candidates.

These templates serve as a foundation for your communication, allowing you to quickly and efficiently reach out to candidates at various stages of the recruitment process. You can customize these templates as needed, personalizing them with fields for candidate names and specific position details.

Templatizing your communication not only saves time but also helps maintain a consistent brand image and ensures that all candidates receive a standardized level of attention.

Strategy 4: Automate Away Your Manual Tasks

Time is the most valuable resource for recruiters. And the more you can automate manual tasks, the more time you’ll have to focus on strategic activities and connecting with top talent.

By embracing automation in your tech stack, you can streamline your recruitment process and increase overall efficiency. Start by identifying repetitive and time-consuming tasks that can be automated, such as resume screening, interview scheduling, and candidate follow-ups.

Invest in an applicant tracking system (ATS) and interview scheduling software that offer automation capabilities. These tools can help you automatically parse resumes, schedule interviews based on candidate availability, and send personalized follow-up messages.

By automating these tasks, you’ll free up valuable time and ensure consistency in your processes. But remember: automation is not about eliminating the human touch. It’s about maximizing your productivity and creating a seamless experience for candidates.

Strategy 5: Keep Candidates Engaged

No matter what kind of recruiter you are, engaging candidates throughout the hiring process is crucial. However, this becomes even more of a priority in high-volume hiring.

When you’re contacting numerous candidates at one time, you must pay extra attention to each one so that no candidate is left hanging. At the same time, candidates applying for high-volume positions are likely scoping out competing companies as well; the pressure is on to stand out among the rest.

To differentiate yourself from the competition and maintain each candidate’s interest, start by regularly communicating updates to candidates. Keep them informed on their application status, interview schedules, or feedback so that there is a continuous stream of communication between candidates and the hiring team.

Additionally, consider implementing an email newsletter or blog to share company updates, industry insights, and helpful resources with your candidates. By nurturing these ongoing touchpoints, you can build stronger relationships, showcase your employer brand, and keep candidates excited about the opportunity.

Even if a candidate isn’t the right fit for a current role, maintaining a positive and engaging experience can lead to future opportunities and referrals. Keeping candidates engaged is a key ingredient to success.

Fast-track Your High-Volume Hiring Today

Ultimately, the success of your high-volume recruiting strategies all comes down to the quality of your tech stack. Using cutting-edge hiring technology gives talent teams the help that they need to fill roles fast and efficiently.

Our GoodTime Hire for High Volume product provides talent teams with advanced automated interview scheduling for high-volume roles through SMS, WhatsApp, and email messaging. Quickly reach out to candidates, effortlessly schedule interviews, and let automation handle the rest.

See how Hire for High Volume can transform your high-volume recruiting.

A New World: How Manufacturing Recruiters Must Evolve Their Processes

Posted on May 15, 2023May 15, 2023 by rachel

Worker hired by a team of manufacturing recruiters.

Let’s cut to the chase: manufacturing isn’t known for being on the cutting edge. The sector is typically slower to adapt to changes in the world of hiring. And these days, hiring seems to evolve at the speed of light—leaving most manufacturing recruiters in the dust.

Recruiters must contend with new work structures, hiring policy standards, and expectations from candidates. AKA: your hiring team’s current way of doing things probably isn’t up to snuff. But don’t stress yet; we’re here to show you the way forward.

After surveying 531 talent acquisition leaders across sectors for our 2023 Hiring Insights Report, we’ve released the report’s manufacturing edition. Based on responses from 106 talent leaders in manufacturing, the report shows how they’re winning talent in the modern world (and much, much more hiring insights).

What challenges will define manufacturing? How will hiring change? And most importantly: how can manufacturing recruiters evolve their processes to overcome whatever is thrown their way?

We’ve rounded up all of those crucial insights. Read on.

The Difficult Future for Manufacturing Recruiters

Another year, another set of obstacles. According to our survey, respondents expect to get hit by new challenges and shifts in the landscape this year.

If manufacturing recruiters want to overcome these forces, they’ll have to reassess their current processes. But first, what can teams expect in the evolving world of hiring?

Manufacturing’s Biggest Challenges

Limitations of Hiring Technology

Talent leaders in the manufacturing sector anticipate a major challenge in the coming year:
“limitations of current hiring technology” (27%). This ranked as their top concern.

Talent teams within manufacturing and beyond have faced considerable turnover and budget cuts. In the aftermath, teams recognize that without the assistance of an airtight tech stack, they will struggle to meet their goals.

Slow, outdated technology acts as a massive roadblock for a high-volume hiring sector like manufacturing, where speed is the name of the game. But with tech that enables efficiency and productivity, teams can keep candidates engaged and win them over in record time.

Bar chart showing what challenges manufacturing talent teams expect in the future.

Changes in Company Hiring Policies

In today’s shifting hiring landscape, manufacturing companies need to stay agile and adjust their hiring policies accordingly. Talent leaders are well aware of this; they ranked “changes in company hiring policies” as their second biggest upcoming challenge (26%).

It’s only natural for hiring policies to evolve in response to a transforming landscape, especially in a sector that has already undergone significant changes. Manufacturing no longer resembles what it was years ago. Traditionally viewed as an “in-person sector,” companies are slowly but surely embracing remote and hybrid work models.

This newfound flexibility in work structures gives manufacturers a competitive edge in attracting candidates and aligning with the values of emerging talent in the market. Yet to effectively support remote and hybrid work, hiring and HR teams must establish the right policies.

Manufacturing’s Biggest Shifts

Competitive or Uncompetitive Landscape? It’s Up for Debate

When it comes to upcoming changes in the hiring landscape, talent leaders have mixed opinions that really highlight the divide.

On one hand, 44% believe that the landscape will become less competitive because of the increase in available remote talent. On the other hand, 43% believe that the landscape will actually become more competitive due to the rising demand for talent as a whole.

With new challenges looming, the future feels quite uncertain to today’s teams.

Bar chart showing how hiring teams expect the landscape to change.

Directors and the C-Suite Say…

When we look at the data broken down by seniority level, we see an intriguing split. Let’s analyze.

Most directors believe that the landscape will become more competitive because of the growing demand for talent (50%). However, most C-suite executives think that the landscape will become less competitive as remote talent becomes more available (46%).

It’s worth noting that directors have good reason to anticipate increased demand for talent. They understand the ongoing impact of the current skills shortage and the increase in job vacancies resulting from retirements and the sector’s rapid expansion.

C-suite executives are banking on the surge in remote talent to alleviate competition. But here’s the question: Are they ready to embrace remote work within their own organizations? Manufacturing is still new to the concept of flexible work; the C-suite might be more optimistic than directors about their progress in establishing remote structures.

Bar chart showing how directors and the C-suite expect the landscape to change.

How Manufacturing Recruiters Must Respond

We now have a feeling for what’s ahead in the hiring world. So, what’s a recruiter to do? To help inform your strategies moving forward, here’s how talent teams from our report plan on conquering recruitment.

Emphasize Time-to-Hire and Candidate Relationships

Topping the list at 36% each, talent leaders believe that reducing time-to-hire and fostering candidate relationships are the key areas that they must prioritize in the coming months. By improving these aspects, teams can establish a well-rounded hiring process.

Candidates want a process that moves swiftly, signaling that they are a priority and their time is valued. But speed alone isn’t everything. Candidates also crave the opportunity to establish a genuine connection with the hiring team and get a glimpse into the company’s work culture and its people.

Bar chart showing what TA leaders plan on improving in the future.

Don’t Forget About the Tech Stack

To create this comprehensive candidate experience, teams have another priority in mind: upgrading their tech solutions, which comes in at 31%. Utilizing advanced tech tools would actually help teams improve all of the top five areas they plan to focus on.

An upgraded hiring tech stack streamlines the hiring process for candidates and boosts the efficiency of hiring teams. As a result, teams can dedicate more time to building meaningful connections with potential hires.

And the big payoff? Ultimately, this effectively addresses talent leaders’ biggest anticipated challenge: the limitations of their current hiring technology.

Manufacturing Recruiters: Want More Insights?

2022 brought a shaky economy, sweeping reductions in force, and a challenging hiring landscape. The pressure is on to attract qualified candidates, deliver an efficient hiring process, and leverage hiring tools that drive success. Are you ready to succeed in 2023?
To dive deeper into these insights and much, much more, get the manufacturing report today.

6 Manufacturing Recruiting Trends You Must Know to Succeed

Posted on May 12, 2023May 15, 2023 by rachel

Workers hired by a manufacturing recruiting team.

No matter how you look at it, manufacturing recruiting is tough, and it’s not getting much easier. With a shortage of skilled workers and countless open positions to fill, it’s no wonder that recruiting can seem like an insurmountable challenge.

So, what can talent teams expect from the manufacturing hiring landscape? This year comes with new challenges and economic obstacles, but don’t stress; we’re here to help make sense of it all.

After surveying 531 talent acquisition leaders across sectors for our 2023 Hiring Insights Report, we’ve released the report’s manufacturing edition. Based on responses from 106 talent leaders in manufacturing, the report shows how they’re attracting and retaining talent amid today’s obstacles.

For the TL;DR of the report, here’s a roundup of the six key trends your team must know to successfully weather 2023’s manufacturing recruiting storm.

1. Hiring Goals Fell Short

We’ll be honest—recruiting large numbers of skilled candidates isn’t easy, and the data agrees. Talent teams in the manufacturing sector met only 44% of their hiring goals in 2022. This is the lowest hiring goal attainment among all five sectors surveyed for our Hiring Insights Report.

As manufacturing continues to struggle with talent acquisition, the likelihood of meeting hiring goals this year becomes increasingly uncertain.

Charts showing manufacturing hiring teams' goal attainment.

2. Top Previous Changes: Candidate Demands & Recruitment Turnover

It’s common for manufacturing candidates to explore roles in sectors beyond manufacturing. With so many job opportunities at their fingertips, candidates now expect an exceptional hiring experience.

Luckily, manufacturing talent leaders recognize this trend. This is seen in one of the biggest changes experienced over the past 12 months: the growing candidate demands increased the touchpoints needed in the hiring process (46%).

Yet make no mistake—giving candidates a superior experience isn’t a small feat. This becomes even harder when you have a reduced hiring team. Talent leaders say they also felt that the increase in recruitment team turnover impacted their abilities to manage candidates (46%).

Bar chart showing how the manufacturing talent landscape has changed.

3. Layoffs Hit Manufacturing

You’ve likely heard a lot of buzz surrounding layoffs in tech, but what about layoffs in manufacturing? According to our survey, a whopping 69% of manufacturing companies reported layoffs. And it’s not just a few employees; 40% of affected companies cited headcount reductions of 10-14% and 19% reported reductions of over 20% of their workforce.

As companies face a skills shortage and increased candidate demands, the effects of layoffs can feel devastating. Having a reputation for layoffs may scare off talent who worry about job security. That’s why it’s more important than ever to meaningfully connect with candidates and give your employer brand an extra boost.

Charts showing the impact of layoffs on manufacturing companies.

4. Top Expected Challenge: Limiting Hiring Technology

Manufacturing recruiting teams are bracing for a big challenge in the year ahead: outdated hiring technology. From our survey, 27% of talent leaders cited the limitations of their current tech as their top concern. With turnover and budget cuts already taking a toll, talent leaders recognize that they need the right tools to succeed in 2023.

Clunky technology just makes life harder for talent teams—especially when facing the challenges of high-volume hiring. But with the right tech solutions, teams can overcome the obstacles of the past year and offer a standout candidate experience that meets the demands of candidates. (Yes, even in the face of turnover).

5. Competitive or Uncompetitive Landscape? You Decide

When it comes to the future of hiring, talent leaders are split down the middle. Out of our respondents, 44% believe the landscape will become less competitive due to an increase in available remote talent, while 43% believe it will become more competitive due to rising demand for talent. It’s a tough call, especially given the current economic climate and the challenges that coincide with it.

Interestingly, there’s a notable difference in opinion between directors and C-suite executives. Most directors (50%) predict that the hiring landscape will become more competitive due to increased demand for talent. On the other hand, most C-suite executives (46%) believe that remote work will lead to a less competitive hiring landscape.

6. Prioritizing Time-to-Hire and Relationships

Tied for first place at 36%, talent leaders ranked reducing time-to-hire and cultivating relationships with candidates as the top priorities for enhancing the hiring process in the coming months. By improving these areas, teams can create a process that values both speed and connections—crucial in today’s competitive talent market.

It’s important to strike a balance between speed and building meaningful connections. Candidates want a fast process that shows they are a priority and their time is valued. However, they also want the opportunity to connect with the hiring team and gain insights into the company’s work culture and employees. By improving both aspects of the process, teams can attract and retain top talent in a highly competitive market.

Manufacturing Recruiting Teams: Want More Insights?

2022 brought a shaky economy, sweeping reductions in force, and a challenging hiring landscape. Now in 2023, manufacturing recruiters are met with a perfect storm of challenges. The pressure is on to attract qualified candidates, deliver an efficient hiring process, and leverage hiring tools that drive success. Are you ready to conquer 2023?

To dive deeper into these insights and much, much more, get the manufacturing report today.

5 Reasons Why High-Volume Hiring Teams Miss Their Goals

Posted on May 8, 2023May 15, 2023 by rachel

A frustrated high-volume hiring recruiter.

Ah, high-volume hiring; your inbox is overflowing with resumes, your calendar is jam-packed with interviews, and your stress levels are off the charts. Or, maybe you’re on the opposite end of the spectrum and can’t seem to find enough applicants to fill your endless vacancies.

Hitting hiring goals amid all of this chaos can quickly become a real challenge—especially with limited time and resources. But luckily, we’re here to help make sense of it all.

Here are five common reasons why high-volume hiring teams miss their goals, along with key solutions to help you improve your recruitment process.

Reason 1: Slow, Inefficient Communication With Candidates

Let’s face it—maintaining consistent communication is hard. And when you’re trying to coordinate interviews with countless candidates, things can quickly spiral out of control.

Gaps in communication and slow response times are bad, bad news for a high-volume hiring process. This can cause delays in scheduling interviews, lower response rates from candidates, and missed opportunities with stellar talent.

Pro-Tip: Leverage Email/SMS Templates and Automation

Templatizing your communication—whether that’s through email or text message—and utilizing a healthy dose of automation is the recipe for success. This way, candidates stay informed and engaged throughout the process.

Communication templates eliminate the manual work involved in drafting up a whole new message for every candidate in your pipeline. Even better, tech tools that enable automation reduce the time and effort required to send messages and coordinate with applicants, all while ensuring consistent communication.

Reason 2: Limited Time and Resources

Time is of the essence and helpful resources are essential when you’re a high-volume recruiter. Yet of course, these are the two elements that today’s teams lack the most.

The current hectic economic landscape has dealt a heavy blow to many recruiting teams, slashing budgets in half and reducing headcount in one fell swoop. High-volume hiring was hard before, and it’s even harder now. Teams must manage multiple candidates and coordinate a variety of interviews with less bandwidth and support to do so.

Pro-Tip: Streamline the Screening and Scheduling Process

To improve your efficiency and make the most of your resources, consider using technology to fast-track some of the most tedious, manual parts of the hiring process. For many recruiters, this means the resume screening and interview scheduling process.

That’s where your applicant tracking system (ATS) comes in. And if you don’t already have one, it’s time to change things. Here are our ATS recommendations. An ATS helps recruiters quickly filter through large volumes of resumes and identify the most qualified candidates.

But an ATS can’t do it all on its own. An advanced interview scheduling software automates the entire process of getting interviews on the books, from gathering a candidate’s availability to finding the best available interviewers. That way, recruiters have more bandwidth for the most high-value tasks.

Reason 3: Lack of Organizational Planning

High-volume hiring is oftentimes chaotic. And when you’re dealing with hundreds of candidates, it can feel hard to stay organized and on top of everything. But without a solid plan in place, you’re already setting yourself up for failure.

That’s why effective organizational planning is absolutely essential for successful high-volume hiring. Without a well-defined hiring process in place, recruiters may struggle to manage their time effectively, communicate with stakeholders, and make informed hiring decisions.

Pro-Tip: Align and Define the Stages of the Hiring Process

If you want to amp up your organizational planning, consider creating detailed hiring plans that outline each stage of the hiring process and the specific roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder.

For example, a hiring plan might include a timeline of each hiring stage, from candidate sourcing to final offer acceptance, as well as the specific actions and tasks required for each stage. By having a clear plan in place, recruiters can manage their time and resources more efficiently, communicate more effectively with stakeholders, and make better hiring decisions.

Reason 4: Candidates Dropping Out

When you’re managing such a large talent pool, many—or most—applicants that you come across just aren’t going to be the right fit. Yet even if you get a dazzling resume, there’s so many opportunities throughout the hiring process for qualified talent to become disengaged and drop out altogether.

Having candidates occasionally drop out is expected when you’re a high-volume recruiter. The quick, simple application process sometimes means candidates aren’t as invested in moving forward. However, failing to address the faults in your process makes it that much harder to win qualified talent.

Pro-Tip: Simplify the Hiring Process

We could go on and on about the variety of ways that recruiters can prevent candidates from dropping out. In fact, implementing all of our previously mentioned pro-tips amounts to a better candidate experience and a higher likelihood of securing the best candidates.

However, there’s one tip that we haven’t mentioned yet, and it’s an important one: simplify the hiring process. High-volume recruiting isn’t the place for an overly-complicated process. You want to get talent in the door fast, and candidates want to get to work ASAP.

Simplifying the hiring process can take many shapes. For instance, recruiting via SMS or WhatsApp allows candidates to quickly go through the hiring process via the device that they have on them at all times: their phone.

Reason 5: Not Enough Leads in the Funnel

When it comes to high-volume hiring, having a strong pipeline of potential candidates is essential to success. But for some high-volume recruiting teams, generating a consistent flow of leads is a major challenge.

Without a steady stream of qualified candidates, recruiting efforts can quickly become stalled, and positions may remain unfilled for longer periods of time.

Pro-Tip: Improve Employer Branding

Investing in your employer brand proves that sometimes it’s worth it to play the long game. When candidates have a positive perception of your employer brand, they’re more likely to apply for open positions and recommend your company to their networks.

So, how do you build up your employer brand? To start, conduct a brand audit to assess your company’s current reputation and identify areas for improvement. This could involve gathering feedback from current and past employees, analyzing online reviews and ratings, and researching how your company is perceived in the job market.

Once you have a better understanding of your company’s brand perception, you can start taking steps to improve it. This could involve investing in employee engagement initiatives, such as offering professional development opportunities or creating a more flexible work environment.

Transform Your High-Volume Hiring Today

Leveraging advanced hiring technology gives talent teams the best chance to hit their hiring goals and fill high-volume roles faster and more efficiently than ever before.

Our newest product, GoodTime Hire for High Volume, provides talent teams with advanced automated interview scheduling for high-volume roles through SMS, WhatsApp, and email messaging. Quickly reach out to candidates, schedule interviews effortlessly, and let automation take care of the rest.

See how Hire for High Volume can revolutionize your recruiting process.

GoodTime Product Updates: What’s New From April 2023

Posted on May 5, 2023May 15, 2023 by rachel

Get excited: our team is always hard at work in making GoodTime the best it can be, and we’re here to share the latest product updates from April 2023. Plenty of Hire for High Volume updates, new additions to GoodTime Meet, and more releases are coming your way. Buckle up, let’s review!

Watch the Full Product Updates Walkthrough

Want the entire scoop on our latest and greatest product updates? Check out April’s product update webinar below. Keep scrolling to read the biggest highlights.

GoodTime Hire Updates

Hire for High Volume

That’s right—Hire for High Volume takes the stage this month. And with this brand-new offering’s most recent updates, there are so many reasons to get pumped up.

Candidate Automation

More power to candidates. Our stars of the hiring process can now confirm, decline, or reschedule their own interviews right inside their text messages, decreasing the chance of no-shows.

Email Communication

Shoot off a quick email to candidates and get notified in GoodTime when they respond. If your company prefers interviews over video, we also now support scheduling video interviews over MS Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom.

Variable Support

Add some personalization to your recruiting by inserting variables into your calendar invitations and messages. Variables will automatically resolve with the correct data such as the recruiter’s first name, the candidate’s first name, the company’s name, and more.

Other Notable Updates

System Notifications: Receive notifications inside of the Candidate Inbox and Chrome extension when a user schedules an interview.
Auto-apply Country Code to Phone Numbers: GoodTime runs an intelligent phone algorithm to apply the correct country code to candidates inside the Job View page.
Edit Candidate Information: Modify a candidate’s email address, phone number, first name, and last name inside of the messenger.
Usage-based Packages: Now that our product is out of Early Access, we have multiple packages to meet the needs of different organizations. Every company has access to our Free version as well which limits the number of messages to 25/mo per user.
Messages Push to Greenhouse Activity Feed: When a message is sent or received from a candidate, the message content is pushed to the activity feed inside of the Candidate Profile.

Hire for Corporate

Hire for High Volume might be the star this month, but there are always new developments on the Corporate side of the house.

Quick Updates

Confirmation Email and Require Review: Automation is key. Candidates now receive confirmation emails immediately, even when require review is turned off.
Dark Font Colors for Request Availability: For total customizability, you can match a dark font color with light theme colors, or the other way around.
New Languages: GoodTime now supports the candidate experience in Simplified Chinese, Italian & Swahili.

GoodTime Meet Updates

Free up more calendar space in Meet and keep tabs on upcoming meetings. Plus: a lil something for our power users.

Transparent Keywords

Need more time in your week for meetings? Intelligently schedule over meetings you know you can skip by adding transparent keywords. Alternatively, this allows you to pre-block times on your calendar for your most important meetings.

Graphic displaying GoodTime Meet's transparent keyword capabilities.

Link Search

Power users with a lot of links, this one’s for you. The link searching feature now available in the GoodTime App and Chrome extension is the fastest way to share the right links.

Schedule Meetings

Stay on top of your meetings with a filtered list of upcoming and past meetings that you’ve created using your scheduling links.

Graphic displaying GoodTime Meet's scheduling capabilities.

Other Notable Updates

Personal Email Signups: Personal Emails can now be used to create GoodTime Meet accounts (Gmail/Hotmail).
Auto-create Unique URLs: No more duplicate email errors. Meet will make unique URLs (that you can still customize).
Improve User Search Times: No more endless spinners. Meet can search for your teammates even faster now.
Auto-accept Meetings: We’ve added an account level setting to allow you to auto-accept meetings created with your links.

Not Part of the GoodTime Family Yet?

It’s time to change that. With GoodTime, you can get better outcomes from your company’s most important meetings. For interviews, GoodTime Hire helps you schedule 40% faster, hire 50% more efficiently, and 5x team productivity. (Seriously.) For every other meeting, GoodTime Meet provides beautifully-branded scheduling links to schedule internal and external meetings faster than ever.

Learn more about how Hire can transform your interview scheduling.

Learn more about how Hire for High Volume can revolutionize your high-volume hiring.

Learn more about how Meet can revamp your meeting scheduling.

How Retail Recruiters Can Hire and Retain Top Talent in 2023

Posted on May 2, 2023May 1, 2023 by rachel

A retail recruiter scheduling candidate interviews.

Retail recruiters, we feel for you. Filling endless seasonal and evergreen roles is never an easy task. Yet lately, amid the abysmal economy, it seems that retail recruiting has only gotten harder.

The big question is: how can retail recruiters overcome their challenges to hire and retain talent this year and beyond? Fortunately, we’ve got you covered.

After surveying 531 talent acquisition leaders across sectors for our 2023 Hiring Insights Report, we’ve released the report’s retail edition. Based on responses from 108 talent leaders in retail, the report highlights how they’re attracting and retaining talent amid today’s obstacles (and many more hiring insights).

Our report’s data shows that while formidable challenges lie ahead, retail talent leaders have identified key strategies for winning and keeping the best talent on the market. So, what’s their master plan? Read on.

Retail Hiring’s Upcoming Challenges and Changes

Before hiring teams at retailers can develop strategies for success, they must identify and reflect on the biggest upcoming challenges and changes in retail’s recruitment landscape. Recognizing what’s on the horizon helps teams create actionable plans that guarantee the greatest chance of hitting their goals.

Most Crucial Obstacles

The top hurdle expected in the coming months is the challenge of adapting the interview process to a remote setting (25%). Retailers must now venture into the remote world to meet the ever-changing expectations of today’s job seekers.

Bar chart showing what challenges retail talent teams expect in the future.

Traditionally, on-site interviews are customary for retail positions, particularly when hiring for in-store roles. Yet times are changing. Candidates seek more flexibility in their job hunt, including the option to interview remotely from their own homes. With this, retailers are tasked with evolving the interview process.

Hybrid work challenges (22%) is tied for the second biggest upcoming obstacle. The rise of remote interviewing and hybrid work within retail signifies a transformative period. In response to the current world of work, companies in retail are swiftly adjusting their hiring methods and operational models.

Shifts on the Horizon

In spite of the economic downturn, many retailers are still hiring as usual. However, their reduced talent teams could pose challenges. Looking ahead, hiring leaders in retail foresee that high recruitment team turnover will affect their ability to handle the influx of candidates in the hiring process (41%). This is the biggest change expected in the coming months.

Bar chart showing how retail hiring teams expect the landscape to change.

As for the second and third biggest shifts, leaders anticipate that quickly connecting with candidates (39%) and creating candidate relationships (38%) will be crucial. Candidates expect an efficient hiring process that also allows them to form authentic relationships with the hiring team. Overlooking these two areas means talent teams risk losing candidates to companies with better-aligned processes.

How Retail Recruiters Can Come Out on Top

Talent teams in retail face a challenging hiring environment: a volatile economy, a difficult hiring landscape, and a changing world of work. To overcome these circumstances, inaction simply isn’t an option.

Want to know how you can successfully hire and retain top talent this year? Based on the data from our Hiring Insights Report, here’s how retail talent leaders plan on persevering and hitting their goals.

Revamping Hiring with Tech

Ranking closely within two percentage points of each other, retail talent leaders aim to enhance five aspects of the hiring process: personalization (34%), candidate experience (34%), efficiency (33%), automation (33%), and offer acceptance rates (33%).

Fulfilling these ambitious goals means retail talent leaders must revamp the hiring process entirely. So, how can talent teams tackle all five elements? The solution lies in upgrading the existing tech stack, and 29% of respondents already plan to do so.

Bar chart showing what retail TA leaders plan on improving in the future.

Optimal hiring technology helps teams improve their joint productivity and deliver a memorable candidate experience, regardless of the number of applicants they must juggle. In turn, tech solutions help retailers stand out from competitors’ processes—all without overwhelming their hiring teams.

Communicating to Top Talent

Winning candidates over in a sea of fierce competition requires hiring teams to convey values that resonate with talent. When asked what they communicate to candidates to reel them in, retail talent leaders say they emphasize social good (48%) and flexibility (46%) the most.

Bar chart showing what retail talent leaders try to communicate to retail candidates.

Human well-being and workplace flexibility are high on candidates’ wishlists. Discussing both values provides prospective hires with important insight into an organization’s culture. It’s a way to differentiate from the vast competition and leave a lasting impression on job seekers.

Streamlining the Hiring Experience

When asked how they try to create a faster, simpler hiring experience for candidates, talent leaders in retail said that their top method is emphasizing transparency in the interview process (47%). Transparency helps give candidates greater clarity on proceedings, reducing the chance of misunderstandings and delays.

Bar chart showing what TA leaders do to build a fast, simple hiring process.

The top-selected responses from talent leaders all speak to the importance of the recruiter-candidate relationship. Exhibiting transparency establishes trust, creating a fast interview process (43%) ensures a candidate’s time isn’t wasted, and self-rescheduling (42%) puts candidates in control. Mixing all of this together forms a genuine candidate relationship.

Optimizing With Data

As teams prepare for the upcoming hiring challenges, they’ll be doing so while closely monitoring the value each new hire brings to their organizations. Talent leaders agree that out of all the metrics they measure, quality of hire is the most important (30%). This result is fitting; recruiting teams must not only hire quickly but also secure the very best talent on the market.

Bar chart showing what hiring metric talent leaders consider the most important.

Tracking quality of hire is essential to the success of any hiring team in retail. With ongoing talent acquisition woes and perpetual job vacancies, teams must hire the most capable, motivated candidates. After all, a company is only as good as the people that comprise it; hiring the right people is key to withstand any obstacle.

Hey, Retail Recruiters: Want More Insights?

2022 brought a shaky economy, sweeping reductions in force, and a challenging hiring landscape. Now in 2023, retail recruiters are met with a perfect storm of challenges. The pressure is on to attract qualified candidates, deliver an efficient hiring process, and leverage hiring tools that drive success. Are you ready to conquer 2023?

To dive deeper into these insights and much, much more, get the retail report today.

Use These 6 Retail Recruiting Insights to Stay Ahead of the Game

Posted on April 11, 2023May 5, 2023 by rachel

Retail employee hired from retail recruiting efforts.

If one thing’s certain amid the hiring landscape’s uncertainty, it’s that retail recruiting won’t get any easier. Recruiters face a multitude of obstacles in the path ahead, including a constant stream of vacancies, high turnover rates, seasonal hiring demands, and the pressures that come with high-volume hiring.

What lies ahead for the retail hiring landscape in 2023? This year brings new challenges and economic obstacles, but we’re here to help make sense of it all.

For the TL;DR of the report, here’s a roundup of the six key takeaways your team must know to successfully weather 2023’s retail recruiting storm.

1. Hiring Goals Lag Behind

Over the past year, retail recruiters encountered significant obstacles in their efforts to recruit a large number of candidates and keep current staff on board. Speaking to the severity of their struggles, retail companies were only able to meet less than half (47%) of their hiring goals in 2022.

As the retail industry continues to grapple with talent acquisition and retention challenges in 2023, the possibility of achieving this year’s hiring goals becomes increasingly uncertain.

Charts showing retail hiring teams' goal attainment.

2. Top Previous Change: Growing Candidate Demands

As retailers struggle to fill their constantly revolving door of vacancies, candidates hold a significant advantage. They are in a secure position to demand more from the hiring process. This advantage has manifested in the biggest shift observed over the past year: an increase in candidate demands that necessitated more touchpoints in the hiring process (41%).

Coming in second place, talent leaders also felt the impact of recruitment team turnover on their ability to manage the candidate pipeline (39%). To exacerbate these difficulties even further, leaders saw that the intense hiring landscape called for more candidates in the funnel for teams to stand the greatest chance at filling vacancies (38%).

Bar chart showing how the retail hiring landscape has changed.

3. Layoffs Hit Retail Hard

The retail sector’s layoffs have by far received less attention than the upheaval in the technology industry, yet their consequences carry significant weight. A staggering 70% of retail companies reported layoffs last year. One-third of impacted companies cited headcount reductions of 10-14% and 32% reported reductions of over 20% of their workforce.

For hiring teams already struggling to navigate a competitive hiring landscape, layoffs only add fuel to their recruitment woes. The reality is that retail candidates—who often have multiple offers on the table to begin with—are less likely to consider a company with a track record of job cuts.

In this vein, it’s crucial for talent professionals to prioritize revitalizing their employer brand and improving candidate perceptions post-layoffs. Teams can make headway in these areas with a focus on culture and the candidate experience, starting with the first touchpoint to the final offer.

Charts showing the impact of layoffs on retail companies.

4. Top Expected Challenge: Navigating Remote Interviews

“Difficulty adapting the interview process to a remote environment” is the top challenge expected in the year ahead (25%). This marks a significant jump in the rankings from the previous year, where talent leaders ranked it at the bottom of their list of concerns in second to last place.

Historically, on-site interviews are the norm for retail roles, especially when hiring for non-corporate, in-store positions. But while retailers were comfortable with this on-site interview format in the past, times are changing. Candidates demand more flexibility in their job hunt, including the option to interview remotely from their own homes. Retailers are now tasked with venturing into the remote world to meet the ever-evolving expectations of job seekers.

5. Top Expected Change: Increase in Recruitment Team Turnover

Despite the ongoing economic slump, many retail recruiting teams are still ramping up their hiring efforts. However, their diminished talent teams could create spell trouble for their hiring operations. Looking ahead, hiring leaders anticipate that the high turnover rates among recruitment teams will affect their ability to manage the overwhelming influx of candidates in the hiring process (41%).

Talent leaders also recognize that the ability to connect with candidates quickly (39%) and establish meaningful candidate relationships (38%) will be crucial for success. Candidates expect a hiring process that is both efficient and conducive to genuine connections. Neglecting these areas may result in losing top candidates to companies, or sectors, with more effective hiring processes.

6. Overhauling the Hiring Process With Tech

Ranking within two percentage points of each other, retail talent leaders plan to improve five aspects of the hiring process: personalization (34%), candidate experience (34%), efficiency (33%), automation (33%), and offer acceptance rates (33%).

To fulfill these ambitious goals, retail talent leaders must undergo a complete overhaul of their hiring process. And still, the question remains: how can talent teams tackle all five areas? Upgrading the existing tech stack is the optimal solution, with 29% of respondents already planning to do so.

With the right hiring technology, teams can increase productivity and create an exceptional candidate experience, regardless of the hiring volume. As a result, tech solutions and their ability to refine the hiring experience can help retailers differentiate from competitors’ processes—all without overburdening their recruitment teams.

Retail Recruiting Teams: Want More Insights?

To dive deeper into these insights and much, much more, get the retail report today.

How Financial Services Recruiters Can Do More With Less

Posted on April 11, 2023April 9, 2023 by rachel

Two financial services recruiters strategizing.

Fasten your seatbelts, financial services recruiters. It’s been a bumpy ride, and there’s still turbulence ahead. The past year brought economic instability, talent acquisition challenges, and retention difficulties. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

With layoffs sweeping through the sector and impacting HR and recruiting departments, teams must now find a way to hit their goals despite reduced budget and headcount. That’s right—they must “do more with less.”

The big question is: how can you maintain a refined and memorable hiring process with fewer resources? Fortunately, we’ve got you covered.

After surveying 531 talent acquisition leaders across sectors for our 2023 Hiring Insights Report, we’ve released the report’s financial services edition. Based on responses from 109 talent leaders in financial services, the report highlights how they’re attracting and retaining talent amid today’s obstacles (and much, much more).

Our report’s data shows that while layoffs and budget cuts hit financial services hard, hiring teams have devised a roadmap to success. If you want to transform “doing more with less” from a burden into a superpower, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to learn more.

The Aftermath of Financial Services’ Layoffs

Workforce reductions weren’t kind to the financial services sector. A whopping 71% of financial services companies surveyed reportedly experienced layoffs. In total, 60% of impacted companies reported that job cuts affected 10-19% of their headcount and 26% reported layoffs of over 20% of their workforce.

Charts showing the impact of layoffs on financial services companies.

Even if a company hasn’t laid off employees, most financial services organizations in today’s economic landscape find themselves under some degree of pressure to remain conservative in their spending. This, in turn, means that the vast majority of hiring teams are expected to deliver on their goals without all of the familiar resources and budgets that they use to achieve success.

And if your company isn’t currently hiring due to economic restraints, you can guarantee that hiring will bounce back before you know it. In the meantime, the best course of action is to refine the hiring process and maximize your available resources for present and future hiring success. But how do you do that?

Strategies for Doing More With Less

Hit Goals With Efficiency and Productivity

In the thick of the topsy-turvy economy, talent teams at financial services companies plan on reaching for success by emphasizing efficiency and productivity. Specifically, talent leaders have four priorities for the coming months: improving efficiency (44%), optimizing automation (43%), increasing personalization (42%), and upgrading hiring technology (42%)—all interconnected by the theme of driving productivity.

Bar chart showing what financial services TA leaders plan on improving in the future.

Efficiency and automation are crucial to creating a smooth, fast hiring process with limited resources and bandwidth. Improving personalization takes this process one step further by making candidates feel appreciated. As the cherry on top, upgrading the tech stack allows for an even more effective process. Hiring technology not only streamlines operations without increasing the workload of hiring teams but also enables teams to achieve more without hiring additional staff.

But there’s just one problem. According to our data, “limitations of current hiring technology” is the biggest challenge expected in the next 12 months. In other words, teams’ hiring technology can’t keep pace with their evolving needs. In the future of “doing more with less,” replacing inadequate tech solutions must be a top priority for teams to effectively reach their goals and deliver on the top four areas they look to improve.

Bar chart showing what challenges financial services hiring teams expect in the future.

Make the Most of Every Candidate

“Doing more with less” doesn’t just mean optimizing the technical side of your hiring operations. It also means identifying innovative ways to meaningfully connect with talent and make the most of every candidate. When asked what they communicate to candidates to form a relationship and win them over, the vast majority of talent leaders (66%) say that they emphasize flexibility.

Bar chart showing what recruiters communicate to attract top candidates.

If talent leaders in financial services wish to secure skilled new hires and retain existing employees, they must consider the desires of talent, and that includes flexibility-based work policies and benefits. This focus on flexibility becomes even more relevant when you consider two of the sector’s biggest challenges on the horizon: hybrid work struggles and remote interviewing complexities.

Giving talent the ability to participate in remote or hybrid work and remote interviewing are both ways that financial services companies can practice what they preach. This goes beyond simply communicating flexibility to talent and instead demonstrates their genuine commitment to flexibility.

Leverage Quality of Hire

In today’s economy, no one can afford to haphazardly throw things at the wall and hope that some solution sticks. When the going gets tough, there’s always one thing you can rely on to steer you in the right direction: your hiring analytics. Scrutinizing your metrics allows you to locate issues in your hiring process and determine the most suitable solutions without wasting money and resources on fruitless endeavors.

So, what metric do talent leaders plan to double down on in the coming months? None other than quality of hire (20%). This emphasis is fitting; one of the broad goals for hiring teams is not only to hire quickly but to acquire the best possible talent. This is especially relevant to the financial services sector, where hard-to-find, digital-based skills are needed to match the sector’s shift toward new financial innovations.

Bar chart showing what metric hiring professionals consider the most important.

Met with a declining economy, an increasing number of recruiters at financial services companies turned their focus to quality over quantity in recent months. The secret to assessing the effectiveness of these hiring decisions is to closely monitor the quality of each and every new hire. In the end, a company comprised of the most qualified employees can overcome any obstacle in the landscape.

Hey, Financial Services Recruiters: Want More Insights?

2022 brought a rocky economy, sweeping reductions in force, and a difficult hiring landscape, creating a perfect storm for financial services recruiters this year. The pressure is on to find and attract qualified candidates, deliver an efficient hiring process, and leverage hiring tools that drive teams toward success. Are you ready to conquer 2023?

To dive deeper into these insights and much, much more, get the financial services report today.