How to Attract Talent in a Competitive Market

Unemployment rates dropped to 3.1% in Orange and Seminole County, the lowest in 10 years with the highest growth of jobs being in tourism, leisure, and hospitality. Orlando has lead the state in most job growth for 36 consecutive months and has added more than 42,000 private-sector jobs in the last year. In fact, there are currently more job openings than candidates to fill them!

How does the unemployment rate affect local companies?
Employers are finding it increasingly difficult to attract new talent. Let’s face it—it’s a candidate market and they’ve got the upper hand. Let’s go back to the old Supply and Demand model.

In this market, low talent supply means an increase in wages for those passively or actively seeking jobs.

What are companies doing to help attract and retain employees?
Competition is intense. The job seeker has options and is leveraging the market to push the salary ticker higher and higher. In most cases, the candidate is happy in their current role and only looking for a better opportunity. What will companies do to make their organizations more enticing for these passive job seekers? The answer is higher wages, better 401k plan, the ability to work remotely, and the creation of incentive, wellness, and other employee engagement programs.
We can also look at this issue from a proactive perspective. Can we retain our talented employees and limit the turnover? Yes, you can! Start with culture and your own very valuable team! Recruit and develop from within. Use those HR resources and train strong employees to learn a different role within the company.

Snapshot of the top 10 things employers can do to help with the talent shortage: 

1. Use multiple hiring resources.
2. Implementation or “training pay”.
3. Leverage resources like Central Florida Career Source and other nonprofits that specialize in getting employees ready for the workforce.
4. Use staffing agencies.
5. Double referral bonuses for any employee who refers a future employee. Over 35% of the employers said they have made their employee referral programs more lucrative for current employees.
6. Hire from pool of talent from Puerto Rico.
7. Hire J-1 student visas to fill open positions.
8. Use headhunters.
9. Attend more live career fairs and do onsite interviews with hiring managers.
10. Speed up interview-to-hire process from two weeks to one week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

– Robin Elkins, Vice President of Operations