There may be quite a bit more competition during the hiring process than job seekers realize: recent studies indicate that for every posted entry level position, an average of over 140 applications are received. For full-time, skilled-labor jobs, a company may receive over 90 resumes for each listed opening. Workers are looking for attractive wages, but many choose flexibility and variety over traditional office work.
An increase in the availability of home-based employees has also made competition for jobs more fierce: companies can now choose from the best talent from across the country instead of needing to settle on the most competent employees in their local areas. Around the world, recruiting managers report that they prefer quality employees and that they use that as a measure of their success in staffing the companies they contract with.
And there is no rush to hire: larger companies may take up to two months to replace an employee and may not hire at all, if they determine that the workload can be spread among existing employees. Looking to cut costs, many companies are outsourcing jobs that used to be filled internally: a managed service provider may be retained to perform tasks that do not require a full-time employee, such as payroll or IT services.
A managed service provider may also be engaged to assess and reconfigure internal processes like order fulfilment, security, or employee time management. Many companies are looking to cut costs without sacrificing quality, so hiring an expert to provide management solutions can be essential before a planned expansion in size or range of services. Workforce planning can be crucial; the redistribution of full-time positions can lead to overall savings and growth.
Companies that invest time and resources in vendor management and strategic sourcing of raw materials should also take time to assess their talent acquisition strategy. Many companies find that they rely increasingly on social media during their recruitment process, and companies that do not advertise job openings online are apt to have lower response rates. Job seekers may have more competition, but employers seem dedicated to finding quality employees, wherever they are reside.
