Top Talent Acquisition Trends to Watch in 2024

There is an alarming talent shortage looming over businesses currently. This shortage is global and has left more than 75% of businesses struggling to fill essential roles. This crisis has forced companies to reevaluate their recruitment strategies and welcome more innovative approaches to attract and retain top talent.

This blog post will update both businesses and job seekers with all the latest talent acquisition trends shaping employment in 2024. Let’s dive in!

Trend#1 – An Unusual Team of AI and Recruiters

Recruiters have been bearing the headaches of hiring long before ChatGPT became a thing.

On average, recruiters spend around 23 hours screening resumes and shortlisting candidates for interviews. Up to 40% of their time is consumed by tasks like data entry or manually sorting through resumes.

AI helps to quicken these time-consuming operations for recruiters. It can write job descriptions, pre-screen video interviews, conduct other pre-employment checks, and assess if the candidate is the perfect cultural fit for that organization. AI chatbots, on the other hand, help to answer questions by candidates in real time. AI can also help organizations screen candidates that fit the DEI quota.

There is a major risk accompanying this partnership between AI and recruiters. The initial period for AI tools was fabulous, but with the effects wearing off, they are proving to be more inaccurate. This inaccuracy can compel job seekers to raise questions about the credibility of the recruitment process. A survey by the Pew Research Center confirmed our suspicions on the effects of AI’s inaccuracy: almost 70% of Americans stand against using AI to make final hiring decisions and 41% believe that AI shouldn’t be used in reviewing applications in the first place.

So, will recruiters continue to use AI for recruitment purposes or find the right balance with additional human involvement? This is one of the most interesting talent acquisition trends 2024 and we are waiting to see how long this partnership will last.

Trend#2 – What’s the Key to Winning the Talent War?

The current talent gap is an eye-opener for companies who are realizing that the best candidates they are looking for might already be on their payroll. Gartner tells us that employee turnover is expected to rise by 50-75%, and filling roles is taking 18% longer than it did before the pandemic. This is tightening the grip on managers who are forced to spend time and resources on recruiting talent in a market that’s expensive and scarce.

Talent acquisition trends show that businesses are experiencing a shift in mindset. Rather than constantly chasing new talent, companies are investing in the growth of their current employees. Instead of doubling down recruitment efforts, HR leaders are redirecting their energy to figure out the big WHY behind employees quitting their organizations. Giving your employees space for growth and advancement is actually helping organizations keep their best talent happy. Your employees can find green pastures anywhere, but how will you stop them from sending that resignation email? Companies are adapting career pathing programs to help an employee see their future in that organization.

Trend#3 – Return to Office or Else…

“Return to Office or Else…” has become a favorite catchphrase for CEOs of corporate giants like Google, who are fed up with employees taking Zoom calls while their pets make a cameo at the back. The post-pandemic push to flexible working survived well through 2020 and 2022, but the script has been flipped now. The same working model is now facing backlash as companies are pushing their employees to come back for in-person work.

In the first quarter of 2024 alone, Boeing and UPS have led the charge in making their employees come back to their natural habitat. A recent poll by Resume Builder reveals that 8 in 10 companies plan to track employee office attendance this year, with 95% ready to take the stick over the carrot for those who don’t comply—think salary cuts, reduced bonuses, and ultimately, job loss.

This return-to-office push is one of the most surprising talent acquisition trends of 2024. Businesses are quick to jump on this bandwagon with 90% of companies already planning to implement RTO policies by the end of 2024. As usual, Google was the first to make headlines over its somewhat controversial policy of tracking employee badges to check if they are showing up in person.

Trend#4 – It’s Not About Where You’ve Been, It’s What You Know

In 2024, it’s your skills – not the long list of past employers dotting your resume – that will make all the difference. 81% of employers are using skill-based hiring and 70% of them find it more effective than sifting resumes all day. Hiring for skills rather than experience can help companies access a wider talent pool and support their DEI efforts too.

Areas like generative AI are a relatively new minefield with a skills gap. This is why businesses are focusing more on bringing the expertise they need to align with their long-term growth. Hiring for temporary positions to upskill teams helps companies experiment with new roles before they make permanent decisions.

Trends in talent acquisition for 2024 are also showing that businesses are looking at both sides of the coin: they want technical expertise with leadership skills. Expect to see more lateral moves as businesses reassess roles to find the hidden potential within their ranks.

Trend#5 – Older Workers Staying in the Workforce

For the last talent acquisition trends of this year, we have older workers coming back to the workspace(move aside, Gen Z). As retirement ages shift and people live longer, healthier lives, many are choosing to continue working well into their later years. Companies are adapting by creating roles that are more accommodating to these older employees.

This will include changes like flexible work schedules, adjusting JDs to avoid any physical stress, and providing remote work options too. Welcoming the older generation back into the workspace means your business can take advantage of the experience and knowledge these individuals bring.

Wrapping Up

Now we await how these talent acquisition trends 2024 will pan out for the rest of the year. Companies are definitely not filling new roles with talent anymore but rethinking their own strategies and hiring processes. As always, AI will remain a big player in finding the right talent, but there are caveats to it. Keeping up with these latest talent acquisition trends 2024 is a must for businesses that want steady operations and a pipeline of the right talent available.

Connect with us today to learn how Arthur Lawrence can help you attract, retain, and develop top talent for your organization. Contact us now to implement your ideal acquisition strategy for 2024 and renew business operations. Let’s talk!