iHire's Inaugural Hiring & Job Search Outlook Report Previews 2023 Employment Trends

New report shares forward-looking insights into recruiting, retaining, engaging, and developing talent in the new year from survey of 4,937 employers and job seekers

Frederick, Maryland – iHire today published its inaugural Hiring & Job Search Outlook Report, a forward-looking analysis of the 2023 talent acquisition space. Featuring the results of a survey of 4,430 job seekers and 507 employers from 57 industries, plus exclusive insights from iHire’s job and job seeker databases, this new report shares insights into recruiting, retaining, engaging, and developing talent in the new year. Download the full report here: https://go.ihire.com/cqwnk.

Key themes and findings from iHire’s survey include the following:

1. Employers are cautiously optimistic for 2023. Although 42.7% of employers surveyed are concerned about economic downturn/recession, 68.1% expect to increase hiring and 49.5% plan to give pay raises in the new year.

2. Job seekers are most concerned with the economy and ageism. 41.1% of workers surveyed believe economic downturn or a recession will impact their career or job search in the new year, followed closely by age discrimination (40.0%).

3. The talent shortage and Great Resignation of 2022 will continue in 2023. 74.1% of employers are concerned with difficulty attracting qualified talent, and 50.8% said the same about employee turnover.

4. Employers and candidates value professional development. 45.8% of employers will provide more professional development and training opportunities to employees in 2023. Similarly, 54.9% of workers expect to pursue more of these opportunities in 2023 than they did in 2022.

5. Companies will move DE&I efforts forward. 33.5% of employers will grow their DE&I efforts in the new year, while only 4.6% plan to pursue fewer DE&I initiatives compared to 2022.

6. Where work gets done matters most to job seekers. Aside from salary, the location of a job (21.8%) and the ability to work remotely (16.9%) were candidates’ top two requirements when searching for a new position.

7. The workforce is divided on remote work preferences. When asked about their plans to work in an office or in-person in 2023, 28.4% of candidates said they will do so more in 2023 than they did in 2022. On the other hand, 39.9% of respondents plan to work remotely more frequently this year than last.

8. Employers are thinking like marketers when adopting new recruitment technology. 35.5% of companies plan to use text messaging/SMS tools in 2023 to communicate with applicants, and 11.0% will use candidate relationship management (CRM) systems.

9. Candidates are overlooking the importance of an up-to-date resume. Although 67.0% of workers said they would search for a job in 2023 and 11.1% will search for a second job, just 22.4% said they planned to update their resume.

10. Job boards are going strong: 79.0% of employers plan to use job boards to recruit in 2023, and 34.9% will use them more frequently than they did in 2022.

“Although 2023 may bring more of the same trends as the employment realm experienced in 2022, including talent shortages, turnover, and economic uncertainty, our survey points to a sense of optimism in the job market,” said Steve Flook, iHire’s President and CEO. “Regardless of how this year progresses, iHire is poised to serve a trusted resource for employers and job seekers to find one another most efficiently.”