We understand that workers are in high demand and companies are having a hard time finding the right people to fill the positions.
According to the Labor Department, there has been nine million job openings in the US at the end of May.
To attract applicants away from other businesses and companies formally known as their competitors are now beefing up their Incentives. Ann Elizabeth Konkel, an economist at the job search website Indeed.com. said “There is an elevated demand for labor’’. Indeed, job postings were nearly 36% in early July compared to the pre-pandemic static baseline she says.
Job postings that say ‘’urgently hiring’’ or mention ‘’hiring incentives are also on the rise!
Companies & Employers are throwing money at the problem:
Dollar signs are one way to help attract applicants to a job point. “The first line of defence for most business and companies are to throw money at the problem’’ says Lauren Ferrara who is the vice president of recruitment and operations at Recruiting and Consulting Services company Creative Circle. A large number of companies that are struggling to hire have been increasing and raising their wages but salary hikes just aren’t the only way to get the job seeker’s attention. Companies are offering signing or hiring bonuses to employees.
‘’Hiring incentives are one-time costs to employers. When employers get enough workers, they can drop the hiring incentive if they choose to’’ said Konkel. ‘’And that’s very different than raising the wage for all employees.’’
Industries and positions that don’t traditionally offer hiring bonuses are using them to find workers. The size of a hiring bonus can vary and even within the same industry. Konkel recently saw two jobs within the nursing industry being advertised, one job post had a $100 signing bonus and the other was offering $30,000. “Employers are in a crunch right now’’, said Konkel.
In May this year Amazon announced plans to hire over 75,0000 people in fulfilment and transportation jobs with sign-on bonuses of up to $1,000 in a variety of states across the US.
Restaurants have also been offering hiring bonus to potential employees, for instance a popular restaurant in NewYork City is offering a $250 sign-on bonus to counter customer services and counter employees who remain employed at the restaurant for at least 30 days. And job postings for a driving instructor in New York City is advertising a job for $1,500 signing bonus.
Employees are acting fast on the offers:
Drawing out of the hiring process can mean a few things; one losing your applicant within the tight labor – this means a large number of companies are making job offers faster. Ferrara says that she has seen interviews and offers on the spot, interviews and offers the next day, and some companies are moving very, very fast. At least the smart ones are she says. The Global Cyber Security firm Semperis wants to double its employee head count to around 340 people by the end of next year. To help meet their goal, the company has shortened it’s hiring process to 7 days from what it used to be 15 to 20 days.
The company is also offering signing bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 for some of their senior roles. It’s very difficult to fill a senior sales role as they are in high demand.
Helping with Childcare:
Finding childcare can be very challenging for working parents and a major roadblock for employment especially now after the pandemic. And some employers are addressing this problem to appeal to potential workers and candidates’’.
The co-founder of job search company says that “companies have been offering child care benefits of many different types, not only to align with hybrid schedules’’. Popular US franchises such McDonalds recently accounted plans to add emergency childcare to its benefits as part of a pilot program they hope to attract more workers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Offering More Flexibility:
According to Ferrara, employers are also being more flexible about new hires at work.
‘’A lot of companies are telling us ‘We don’t care if it’s temporary work, contract or full-time, we are flexible to whatever the candidates’ wants’ she said. She also mentioned that employers are touting work-life balance when it comes to paid time off. Many companies are shifting to an unlimited PTO policy.
Expanding the Digital Pool:
A Digital, E-Commerce and marketing solutions company firm Avionos is looking to add 30 employees to its 120 team by the end of the year to try and help find new hires, broadening it’s potential talent pool. ‘’We can upskill and uplevel.’’ Says Gibson Smith.
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