Are Recruiters Doing Social Media Right?

The latest white paper from SelectMinds, a provider of talent management technologies, finds that 86% of organizations use social media, and 72% actively engaged in some form of social recruiting. Other analysis, from Career Enlightenment, a blog by social media expert Joshua Waldman, puts that number at 89% (based on Jobvite’s “State ofSocial Recruiting Report”). Whatever the actual figure may be, social recruiting is clearly on the rise.

Turnover to Rise – As More Organizations Fail to Keep High-Potential Employees

A global average of 49% of 2,000 internal and external recruiters say they expect higher turnover going forward – whereas only 14% anticipate a decrease – according to a new survey by Right Management . As more organizations begin to see the effects of a slowly improving economy more are expecting turnover.

When taking into account the above numbers, it is important to consider the results of an AMA Enterprise survey of 562 senior managers and executives, which finds 1/4th of companies fail to keep their high-potential employees.

Employee Morale and Engagement at Risk

A recently released study from Modern Survey finds the U.S. workforce has a pessimistic outlook when it comes to work, and employee engagement has sunk to new lows: 70% of the workforce are disengaged or under engaged in their workplace environment, and 21% of workers report they are seeking new employment – with only 8% (another record low) fully engaged. According to a study conducted by Towers Watson, more U.S. companies are having difficulty attracting critical-skilled employees – with 56% of survey respondents reporting problems attracting these employees (a 28% rise from 2009), and 42% reporting difficulty attracting top-performing employees. However, this report makes note that 10% of companies are having difficulty attracting or retaining their employees generally.

Layoffs Surge, Recruiter Confidence Hits New Low

Private-sector employers added more jobs than expected in September, and one report from business leader network ExecuNet notes that 1 in 5 companies continue to hire. Yet a report from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas notes that September planned job cuts are at 115,730, much higher than the 51,114 announced in August and even more than in September 2010 when announced cuts were only 37,151.

Finding the Fit for Those in Need

According to a new study conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the University of Phoenix titled, Life in the 21st Century Workforce: A National Perspective, 53% of employers say they face a significant challenge in recruiting non-managerial employees with the skills, training, and education their company needs – agreeing that interpersonal skills, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving are important to providing the most benefit to employers and the workforce alike.

Holiday Hiring Outlook Better?

According to a recent news release from Snagajob, a job board specializing in hourly positions, hourly hiring managers foresee a steady increase in seasonal hiring this year – compared to the last three years, edging closer to pre-recessionary hiring levels, with 51% planning on hiring this season (up 8 points since 2008). On average, each manager expects to hire 4.1 seasonal workers (including those not intending to make any hires) – a 5% increase over last year’s 3.9 workers and a 32% increase from the 3.1 workers in 2009. While this holiday period is predicted to be stronger, they’re not expecting as much employment growth as they did in 2007, when hiring averaged 5.6 workers. Among these managers, 25% believe their sales will increase while 18% believe they will fall – resulting in a projected net increase of +7%.

Compensation Is Changing

A recent news release from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows the economic situation continues to have an impact on benefit offerings – with a slight increase of HR professionals reporting employee benefits have been negatively affected by the economy. According to the SHRM 2011 Employee Benefits Research Report, there was a 5% year-over-year increase from 2010 (at 72%) – with nearly 77%, just over two-thirds, reporting the negative impact. This is quite relevant in terms of the employment situation. In addition, more respondents indicate offerings have decreased significantly in the past five years – with almost all benefit types seeing a decrease in offerings since the height of the recession. The only categories to see increases are Healthcare and Welfare benefits (for Prescription drug coverage) and Retirement Saving and Planning benefits (for Defined contribution plans – including Automatic enrollment, and Roth 401(k) savings plan) – with the highest rise belonging to the Roth 401 (k) savings plan from 16% in 2007 to 31% in 2011.

Online Screening – Effective or Not – That Is the Question

In last week’s Data Watch we noted the important role social media plays in the recruitment process, and now the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has indicated that a much smaller number of businesses are using web-based resources to screen applicants. The new release from SHRM indicates 26% of respondents said their organizations use search engines to screen their applicants, whereas only 18% use social networks – and even more noteworthy is that 64% or respondents never have or no longer use search engines, with an astonishing 71% never having or no longer using social networks for screening purposes. So why such a big difference in screening vs. recruiting?

Social Media Now Critical Part of Recruiting

Last month, Jobvite released its Social Recruiting Survey 2011 results, and according to the survey the number of organizations that have hired a candidate through social networking recruiting has increased from 58% in 2010 to 64% and the number planning to hire via social networking has increased to 89% – indicating social networking is now a critical aspect within the recruiting landscape. As reported in the Jobvite Index, 55% of respondents have indicated they will increase their budgets for social recruitment efforts, 30% will increase budgets for referrals, and 16% will put money towards job boards. With a substantial decrease in the number of individuals increasing funds towards job boards, where do you see job boards going in the next couple of years?

Graduates’ Wants Have Changed

According to new research conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the Class of 2011 has ranked their top benefits and attributes they seek in their employers – and things have changed.