Blog / To have and to hold why you need to be smart to beat the recruitment crisis

To have and to hold why you need to be smart to beat the recruitment crisis

23 Jun 2022

We’re living through a recruitment crisis.

Take this piece of evidence, for example. A new survey suggests almost one in five of us are looking to change jobs this year.

The survey for accounting firm PwC says that 18 per cent of those questioned hoped to change roles in the next 12 months, whilst 60 per cent said they would prefer to work fully, or mostly at home.

The survey of 2,000 UK workers – carried out in March – found that:

18% are “very or extremely likely” to move to a new job in the next 12 months
32% are moderately or slightly likely to switch
16% are planning to leave the workforce altogether, whether permanently or for an extended break
72% say more pay is the main factor behind their thinking.

Overall, Gen Z (those aged 24 and under) and Millennial workers (25 to 40-year-olds) are most likely to be seeking new jobs, raises or promotions, PwC said.

PwC boss Kevin Ellis said: “The economic outlook may be uncertain but highly skilled workers are in hot demand and employers can’t be complacent.

“Employees will vote with their feet if their expectations on company culture, reward, flexibility and learning are not being largely met. “

So it’s clear that employers need to be doing everything they can to retain their staff.

If high staff turnover is something that affects your company, it’s time to take a long, hard look at the reasons why.

Ten years ago, it might not have been a huge issue, with a ready pool of staff available to hire when the need arose.

But with the number of vacancies now exceeding the number of people to fill them, it’s clear the boot is firmly on the other foot and it is employees who hold the upper hand.

If you are not promoting flexible or hybrid working, working to protect and enhance wellbeing, rewarding your staff with decent pay and bonuses as well as a good benefits package, and also adopting a healthy, inclusive working culture, you will find yourself at the back of the queue when it comes to recruitment.

We have decades of expertise in working with companies to ensure they are doing everything they can to both recruit the best candidates and retain their most valuable staff.