Indeed Longform 08/02/22

I DO

As workers consider returning to the office, where permitted, one thing has become clear: what employees want from work has changed. But what exactly are the areas that will shape the workplace of the future and recruitment methods?

The global survey, which involved 16,000 people including over 1,000 in the UK, found that, on average, employees expect to work remotely for two or three days per week after the pandemic. With many having weathered months of working remotely, employees are also confident that they can be productive (and that managers can keep tabs on this), with 67 per cent saying that their productivity can be measured regardless of their location. The pandemic saw a roller coaster in job availability and demand around the world, with available jobs initially slumping by 50pc in Britain, according to figures from Indeed, the Global Jobsite and Enterprise Hiring Solution Provider. Since then, job postings have bounced back to far above pre-pandemic levels – and with a shortage of workers in many sectors, employees in some sectors, such as professional services and technology, are increasingly able to “name their price” when it comes to flexible working arrangements.

67%

26%

“There's going to be a lot of employers operating in sectors where their competitors are going to be embracing these more flexible working models. From an attraction and retention perspective, businesses are going to have to respond to that.”

UK and Ireland economist at Indeed

What would you like to see your company spend money on to make you most productive when in the office?

Better technology in the office (faster internet, touch screens, videoconferencing)

64%

Better on-site amenities (food, fitness, childcare, health)

41%

Enhanced space for collaboration and innovation

31%

Technology to estimate best days to be in the office to maximize facetime with my team

31%

Make space to be able to network with colleagues

23%

Reservation system for collaborative space and individual space

21%

Urban vs. suburban office options to limit commuting hours

18%

In a market where talent is in short supply, employers need to communicate clearly and transparently with job seekers. UK Research by Indeed in August 2021 of 2,000 job-seekers revealed what people focus on when they decide to apply to new jobs. Good pay is naturally a popular factor (62pc) but good work-life balance is also a priority (36pc), and convenience of commute is important to 22pc of applicants. To attract talent, employers need to be transparent about what is on offer and consider the new needs of employees. Indeed’s 2021 Hiring Trends report found that most (78pc) small to medium-sized businesses and 84pc of enterprises have had to change how they hire to secure talent. One of the key trends is offering flexible work, allowing employees to be more open with where and when they work. The report found that 71pc of all employers now offer flexible work to more workers than before the pandemic. Building an “employer brand” is crucial, believes Jack Kennedy: employers need to focus on communicating clearly to potential hires what is good about their company. “There are a range of other factors beyond salary which people look for,” he says. “A lot of people are thinking about how they can change or grow their career path or take advantage of better benefits. A lot of people want more flexibility in terms of their work hours and schedule.” Hiring teams need to highlight such factors to appeal to candidates, Indeed’s research shows. What candidates are looking for goes beyond good pay and conditions, with 11pc saying they want a company with a compatible mission or vision. Employers are responding to these challenges, research by Indeed has shown, with 83pc saying that their companies have become more transparent about salary, bonuses and perks. Employers say that these tactics are effective, Indeed’s research found, with 96pc saying that the offerings have had a positive impact on recruitment. Almost three-quarters say that they plan to continue offering such perks.

Transparency – a critical component of good candidate experiences

Talent is in short supply in today’s job market. As of December 2021, the number of job vacancies in the UK rose above 1.2 million for the first time since records began, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Flexible and hybrid work is high on the agenda for most employees. More than half of the world’s workers would now consider leaving a job if they are not offered some kind of flexibility in how they work, according to Ernst & Young's 2021 Work Reimagined Employee Survey.

Evolving modern workplaces

But interviews are far from the only part of the recruiting process which is being automated: research by Indeed found that recruiters are relying on technology for many of the early stages of the recruitment process. Almost half of recruiters say that they used technology to confirm that they had received applications, and even in some cases to reach out to candidates in the first place. For potential employees the benefits are clear: rather than waiting for confirmation from a human recruiter they get an immediate automated response, making applying for a job simpler and more reassuring. Indeed’s survey found that recruiters were eager to use technology to focus more on the “human” aspects of recruiting by automating repetitive tasks. More than a third of recruiters said they wanted to spend more time communicating with candidates, and another third hoped to spend more time assessing and interviewing candidates according to Indeed survey data.

The pandemic made remote video interviews a normal part of life for job candidates around the world – with some employees arriving at jobs then leaving for new ones without ever having met a co-worker, interviewer or even their boss in the flesh.

Making recruitment faster and better with technology

Recruiters said that they hoped to automate more of their workflows to deal with tasks such as job posting and advertising (51pc*) and interview scheduling (43pc*), as well as candidate screening (39pc*). Indeed’s Hiring Platform is an all-in-one solution which automates many of these steps for recruiters, speeding up the traditional recruitment process, and making it easier to find quality candidates faster. Today, the average recruiter uses 24 separate digital tools, and the time to hire can average 90 days or more for skilled workers. Indeed’s Hiring Platform simplifies the overall process and greatly improves the time it takes to secure new candidates.

Technology is woven into the journey of every potential jobseeker. Indeed’s research shows that, in the six months before getting their current jobs, jobseekers were most likely to have used an online job site, with 62pc** of respondents saying they had done so, followed by 28pc** of respondents saying they had looked at company career websites. A report from Tribepad, a company which provides software to allow companies to track and manage job applications, showed that Indeed was by far the biggest source of applications across their mix of clients. What employees are looking for has changed, research by Indeed has shown. Companies need to ensure that the way they present themselves matches up to what employees are looking for. That’s not simply a matter of updating a company’s website or social media presence, but also of ensuring that ex-employees spread the message about a company. So what do today's job seekers need to feel a positive connection with a company?

The way people find jobs is changing, thanks to technology – and what potential employees are looking for is changing, too.

Job search 3.0 – the changing face of job search

· Time saved by not interviewing at a physical location (48%) · Convenience of not meeting at a physical location (41%) · No need to find transportation to an onsite interview (32%) · Reduced formality is less intimidating (32%) · Fewer anxieties about arriving late to interviews (32%) · Easier to keep job-seeker status private from current employer/colleagues (20%)

How the workplace is changing and what it means for the future of hiring

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Businesses may have to embrace flexible working models in order to attract employees, says Jack Kennedy, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab who focuses on the UK/Ireland labour market.

The most important factor to job seekers in Indeed’s survey was feeling that work would have a positive impact on others, cited by 43pc***. But that is closely followed by positive reviews about company culture and how employees are treated. For recruiters, there are several obvious lessons, with potential hires valuing prompt responses from job seekers they have reached out to (38pc). Software such as Indeed’s Hiring Platform not only accelerates the recruitment process, it adds transparency, says Indeed’s Maggie Hulce.

But it’s not the case that workers simply want to work from home all the time. According to Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index, which surveyed more than 30,000 people, most employees want a hybrid approach. More than 70pc of those surveyed wanted flexible remote working options to continue – but 65pc said that they craved in-person contact with colleagues.

Average number of days to hire a skilled worker

Flexibility in when I work; Flexibility in where I work

48%

Reimbursement for high-speed internet/phone expenses

47%

Money to cover home office setup (chair, ventilation, lighting)

45%

Tech support for home office set-up

21%

Additional software to suport collaboration/ digital whiteboard/project management

17%

Cost for at-home coffee/lunch

16%

Training to enhance skills in online facilitation

15%

What would you like to see your company spend money on to make you most productive when working remotely?

Better social/recognition platforms to stay connected with colleagues

Manager and leader training for managing new hybrid working models

Online/virtual instructor-led learning options to enhance my skills

13%

11%

10%

Flexible work space licenses for those whose home working environments are not conducive to remote work

*Indeed survey, n=6,750 (worldwide)

When asked to choose between flexibility and top on-site amenities, employees generally choose flexibility

**Indeed survey, n=7,101 (worldwide) ***Indeed survey, n=750

Additional technology 'hardware' items (second monitor, headset, webcam, etc)

Indifferent

Top on-site amenities (e.g. food, fitness); assigned office

Trade-off question: If given a choice between top onsite amenities (e.g. food, fitness); assigned office vs. flexibility in when I work; flexibility in where I work

Percentages do not sum to 100%, as each respondent could choose up to three of the options above. Source: Work Reimagined Global Employee Survey - Key findings and implications for ICMIF June 2021, E&Y

Jack Kennedy,

The speed of the Indeed Hiring Platform allows recruiters to focus on the right candidates far more quickly, says Maggie Hulce, senior VP and GM of enterprise at Indeed: “The biggest time drags in the process tend to be manual CV reviews, often just checking some stat or some qualification that is a yes or no question,” she says. “And then the scheduling of the first-round interview – those pieces, they really can be asked and answered in highly streamlined ways. They are what we found to be the most productive and useful places to automate.” Indeed’s Hiring Platform automates these steps, Hulce explains, offering candidates an experience that is instantly responsive, and offering recruiters a process that is far faster and far less expensive than traditional methods: “If you can automate those pieces, then you can have a process that is more efficient, and allows hiring managers and talent acquisition leaders to focus on just connecting with those candidates that already have those things.”

Indeed’s Hiring Platform automates these steps, Hulce explains, offering candidates an experience that is instantly responsive, and offering recruiters a process that is far faster and far less expensive than traditional methods: “If you can automate those pieces, then you can have a process that is more efficient, and allows hiring managers and talent acquisition leaders to focus on just connecting with those candidates that already have those things.”

“You will immediately see questions that are the qualification questions for candidates for this role, these are the things that are most important,” she says. “So you answer those and, if you have those qualifications, you have those skills, then it will say, ‘Great, when would you like to schedule your interview?’ It offers other information about the employer – and when it’s time, you click the link and you're in a virtual interview lobby.” For both candidate and employer, the experience is much more streamlined – and this allows employers to focus on the human element, Hulce believes: “For the employer, they just say what they are looking for in terms of quality, qualified candidates for these roles. And then they focus on the human element, which is actually engaging with screened candidates, at the moment of interview – still considered one of the most important parts of the process for employers all over the world.”

“I think particularly in certain sectors we are seeing people looking for increasingly flexible options to work and the rise of this hybrid working model. “There's going to be a lot of employers operating in sectors where their competitors are going to be embracing these more flexible working models. From an attraction and retention perspective, businesses are going to have to respond to that.”