The Future of Jobs: 10 Recruitment Trends to Expect in 2023

What does the future of jobs hold? When it comes to attracting the best talent, keeping abreast of emerging trends in recruitment and selection is essential. That’s why we’ve compiled this guide to 2023 employment trends. 

Recruitment trends are emerging best practices that an increasing number of employers put in place to attract and retain top talent. As time goes on, the trends that remain become the new standard. 

Keeping up with these trends will give you an edge when competing with other companies for talent. It is particularly crucial since, according to JobStreet’s 2022-2023 Outlook: Hiring, Compensation & Benefits report, we are dealing with an employees’ market. Two of three Singaporean job seekers refused an offer because they accepted a more attractive offer from a different company. 

Recruitment Marketing As the competition for talent intensifies, recruiters have begun to employ marketing tactics to entice candidates to apply to their organisations. Just as marketers are concerned with customer experience, employers now prioritise providing a good candidate experience throughout the recruitment process. 

Even before posting a job ad, recruiters now focus on garnering interest in the company by building its employer brand. As the term suggests, employer branding relates to your organisation’s reputation as an employer. It encompasses everything from your company’s values to how fairly you treat your employees. 

Using AI at Various Stages of the Recruitment Process More and more companies are using technology to make their recruiting processes more efficient. For instance, the number of companies that use applicant tracking systems (ATS) continues to grow. Using AI doesn’t just speed up administrative tasks – it also helps to eliminate unconscious bias when evaluating resumes and selecting candidates to interview. 

Chatbots are another emerging trend. Companies use them to answer candidates’ inquiries and to provide updates on application status. After all, you can train chatbots to answer the most frequently asked questions. This feature can free recruiters to do more complex tasks and ensure that candidates receive responses promptly. 

However, ensure your chatbots run smoothly and actually provide helpful and informative answers. The last thing you want is to turn off candidates with poor recruitment experience. Make sure the option to contact a human recruiter is always available, in case they have questions the chatbot can’t answer. 

Virtual Reality  Investing in virtual reality can be quite costly but it certainly gives employers an edge in the competition to hire top talent. A survey by PWC shows that “65 per cent of candidates said they would be more likely to take a role if they first experienced it through technology.” 

With remote recruitment becoming more common, virtual reality is a great way to connect with candidates and get them excited about working for your company. You can conduct VR interviews and create virtual tours of your office. You can even create a VR experience that simulates a typical day at work. VR is especially handy when it comes to skills assessments – rather than relying on the candidate’s resume and carefully crafted interview responses, you can see how they react in typical work situations. 

Mobile Recruitment Marketers understand the importance of having a mobile-friendly website, and it looks like it is becoming essential to recruiters as well. As of July 2022, data from Statista shows that 58.99 per cent of internet traffic came from mobile phones. It stands to reason that people would use their mobile browsers and apps when looking for job openings as well.

Every jobseeker worth their salt will research your organisation, so improve the candidate experience by making sure your company website is mobile-friendly. As far as advertising job openings go, make sure to select mobile-optimised job boards like JobStreet. JobStreet also has an easy-to-use app for jobseekers, which is available for Android and iOS. 

Data-Centric Recruiting Data analysis can revolutionise your recruiting process. Gathering data on how many candidates come from different platforms (for instance, your company’s Careers page versus your online job ads) can help you determine which ones are most effective. Tracking how long each candidate spends at every stage of the hiring process can help you identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement. Lastly, tracking the demographics of candidates and new hires can help you detect human bias in your recruitment process. 

Retirees Returning to the Workforce According to Human Resources Online, more and more retirees are re-entering the workforce each year. A Prudential survey also revealed that one out of five Singaporeans plans to delay their retirement. Indeed, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) asserts that mature employees can be a great asset to your workforce.

They bring a wealth of experience and transferable skills and have a stronger work ethic than succeeding generations. They are less prone to absenteeism and job-hopping as well. Older employees have more experience dealing with crises and can act as mentors to younger employees. 

For these reasons, TAFEP encourages businesses to avoid age discrimination and put age-friendly work practices in place. These include ensuring that age is not a factor when it comes to searching for and selecting job candidates. It also means training older employees to perform their roles effectively and appointing an executive team member to champion age-friendly work practices. 

Hiring Temporary Staff In the wake of the Great Resignation, employers have taken to hiring temporary staff for difficult-to-fill positions. And according to JobStreet’s 2022-2023 Outlook: Hiring, Compensation & Benefits report, this trend will continue in 2023. The report shows that the most common reason employers hire on a contractual basis is the difficulty in finding full-time staff. Thirty-three per cent of recruiters said they hired temporary workers as part of their business expansion, while 27% said they could not find full-time staff with the skills needed for the position. 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have become increasingly important to employees. Based on JobStreet’s Decoding Global Talent report, 54% of Singaporean job hunters refuse to apply to companies that don’t value DEI. For this reason, DEI can’t simply be an HR initiative—it should be a part of your company culture. 

When it comes to recruitment, the first step is to ensure that your job ads are free from discriminatory language. Then, you can use ATS to eliminate unconscious bias when screening resumes. 

Work-life Balance Benefits The pandemic has highlighted the importance of work-life balance, and this has become a key component in employers’ strategies to attract and retain talent. This trend will endure in 2023, with employers adding to the work-life benefits they offer staff. Among the benefits Singaporean companies plan to offer in 2023, the most common are organisational activities that cater to employees’ interests or improve engagement. This is followed by early leave on Fridays and mental health counselling talks. 

Remote Work Remote work is one trend that’s here to stay. Candidates, especially tech workers, have come to expect flexible work arrangements. However, data from the 2022-2023 Outlook: Hiring, Compensation & Benefits report shows that 54% of Singaporean companies plan to have their employees completely back in the workplace within the next 12 months. Thirty-three per cent of employers plan to implement a hybrid working model.

When it comes to supporting remote working, 84 per cent of companies provided resources such as laptops, virtual meeting support, and flexible working hours. Sixteen per cent of employers who allow location-independent work said improving flexibility is their top priority. This includes flexible working days (11 per cent), an allowance for setting up a work-from-home space, (11 per cent), and work-from-home guidelines (10 per cent). 

Keeping up with the latest recruitment trends is key to finding and attracting the best people for the job. Learn more about the future of jobs by downloading JobStreet’s 2022-2023 Outlook: Hiring, Compensation & Benefits report.