Layoffs, one after another, seem like the only thing in tech news headlines lately.
When news surfaced that Peloton was laying off over 3000 employees, LinkedIn exploded with job postings.
Soon after, the headlines started talking about Meta and Twitter’s decision to mass fire people. Meta laid off 13% of its employees, firing over 11,000 people, while Elon Musk fired 50% of Twitter’s staff, somewhere around 3500!
And although layoffs of this magnitude do not occur every day, it’s evident that the ripples of these stories will not be calming anytime soon.
While this means that the candidate pool is suddenly surging with tech talent looking for new jobs, their priority of selecting an employer is likely to change. And as candidates modify their job search criteria, recruiters also need to change their hiring strategy.
Here are three solid tips to rethink recruitment amidst layoffs and stand out among your competitors looking to recruit top tech talent.
Let’s hop right in.
3 Ways to Attract and Hire Top Talent During Layoffs
1. Shift the Focus from Numbers to the Value Offered
When looking for a job, most tech candidates already expect generous salaries that the majority of IT roles have to offer.
These usually sit comfortably in six figures. So a fancy pay doesn’t make them drool.
However, now, candidates won’t jump at the promise of a competitive salary alone, especially since the present labor shortage gives them plenty of leverage to expect better things from a job offer.
Skilled job seekers may now prefer to work for businesses that are employee-centric, promise stability, and care about commitment and loyalty. They are less likely to be glamoured by the big names and fat salary offers.
This is precisely what you need to highlight in your job posts to stand out in the competitive market. Your job posts need to be more empathetic and address this ask rather than just announcing the digits on the paycheck.
A fancy pay might look shiny at first, but it doesn’t matter if the employee constantly fears getting laid off. A sense of job security and long-term growth are way stronger appeals.
So, if your client offers anything that can provide candidates value, make sure to highlight it in your job ads, way above compensation.
This way, you’ll be far more likely to attract top-notch talent in search of organizations willing to invest in their futures and not the other way around.
2. Try Something New and Innovative
It’s time to get rid of old, outdated recruitment practices. For example, a prestigious school or former employers aren’t the best indicators of a candidate’s performance and skills.
Assessing someone’s competence on the basis of the top 20 schools they went to is long gone. We now see coding boot camp grads and people who participated in apprenticeship programs doing exceptionally well in the job market.
An engineer who can contribute quality code from day one is a great asset, and dismissing someone based on their pedigree, or lack thereof, is a major mistake.
Diversity hiring has also become a hot topic, particularly in the tech industry, and many organizations are racing to build a more diverse staff.
If the aim is to attract excellent candidates, it’s critical to recognize that those candidates will come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, and a mix of these characteristics is what helps in building a successful team.
So stop eliminating the brightest candidates by focusing on what has worked in the past.
3. Don’t Forget that You Need Candidates More than they Need You
Over the past couple of years, the job market has dramatically changed, giving employees the edge.
Given the current economic climate, you must remember that you need brilliant candidates more than they need you, especially since your client’s competitors would gladly sweep them up if you do not.
This awareness should reflect in your recruitment practices. You must be aggressive and passionate in your approach to candidates.
It’s critical to show why your client’s firm is the greatest place for candidates and how their company culture prioritizes employee experience.
Remember to put utmost importance on providing a pleasant candidate experience. How well you keep applicants engaged and interested will make all the difference.
These solid strategies can help you turn what seems like a big negative into a great opportunity for hiring top talent. How else do you think these layoffs would impact recruitment in the coming days? Let us know in the comments below.
