What are the changes that experts can expect in blue-collar recruitment in 2024? What challenges do all patriots involved in the EU market need to address and adapt to? There are several exciting technologies like AI and CRM platforms that speed up the recruitment process. Still, industry professionals will also need to adhere to the ongoing legislative and economic changes that will shape 2024.
With over 15 years of experience in recruitment, our founder and CEO, Johan van Zutphen, talks about what to expect in the upcoming year.
2023 Trends That Are Here to Stay
- Recruitment Platforms
Recruitment platformisation is here to stay without any signs of slowing down. Job seekers want more control over their employment options, including housing and work conditions. Recruitment platforms provide more control over these things and create more transparency. Platforms offer companies a chance to showcase the fair working conditions they provide, and this could be reinforced even more with employees who leave positive reviews and feedback. This paints a clear picture of the company, its culture, and the work environment it provides.
What could be even more impactful on the blue-collar workforce is the emergence of housing platformisation, which would optimize the process of employee accommodation. Proper housing is often a prerequisite for successful recruitment, and such platforms can grant employees more control over where they live and how much they pay for accommodation.
- Recruitment and AI
Experts have talked about how artificial intelligence will change the hiring process. In short, how can AI help recruiters, employers, and candidates in making hiring decisions faster?
- Tedious task automation
- Better accuracy in matching candidates and job offers.
- Improved candidate assessment and interview analysis.
- Faster onboarding once the decision is made.
These are only a few examples of how AI changes recruitment. However, at this moment, artificial intelligence won’t replace but enhance human-driven recruitment. It will take some time to develop fully automated solutions that will take over the lion’s share of the process.
- Market Internationalisation
International recruitment is set to grow, which means a larger candidate pool for employers and more job opportunities for candidates. To attract and retain these foreign candidates, employers should also offer appealing benefits, aside from salary, as other factors often play a bigger role in choosing a workplace.
According to a LANDED survey, the top benefits blue-collar workers find the most attractive are:
1. Paid vacation and sick time (69% of respondents)
2. Flexible scheduling (65% of respondents)
3. Competitive pay and health insurance (63% of respondents)
Other reports show that diversity and inclusion also play a huge role in the job hunt process. Companies in the Netherlands and Germany are opening up to foreign workers, facilitating a more inclusive culture where all employees feel welcome.
Recruitment Predictions for 2024
- Slow but Steady Year Start
The year is expected to start at a slower pace. In the Netherlands, there will be a significant rise in minimum wage, which may lead to companies not hiring new employees. Similarly, winter months are typically slower for recruitment, but after COVID-19 and the energy crisis, 2024 promises to return to a more regular pattern.
Fall months are typically considered high time for recruitment, and the period leading up to major holidays and key shopping events, such as Easter and Black Friday, typically sees an increase in job openings as businesses prepare for higher demand.
- Increased Platformisation
We expect that more employers will recognise the benefits of online recruitment platforms. These solutions allow companies to showcase their qualities while broadening the pool of candidates and helping them attract the right people for the job.
That said, a growing number of employers are joining our platform, and they are satisfied with their results. This leads us to believe that more companies will recognise the benefits of recruitment platforms in 2024.
- Increasing International Recruitment
Our take is that employers will get more accustomed to hiring more openly from other countries. We’re already seeing that employers greatly understand the benefits of having a varied workforce and the fresh perspectives and skill set it can bring to a business.
According to the Diversity in the Workplace report from Team Stage, inclusive businesses are 120% more likely to meet financial targets, and an increasingly diverse team has the potential to increase GDP by 26%.
Advice to Recruiters in 2024
The team at Hire Abroad always keeps an eye on the changes that shape the industry and gladly shares their insights to help recruiters navigate the industry. Here are a few pieces of advice for recruiters for 2024:
- Use Online Tools: From automation to candidate sourcing and interview scheduling, online tools can greatly increase work efficiency and workload, without sacrificing quality. It’s worth researching the market to identify the solutions that best support your workflow and help you streamline your recruiting processes.
- Specialise: Focusing on a particular sector or area of expertise can boost your impact on the market. This focus allows you to identify more perfect fits for certain roles, and in the long run, this will also mean more business for your company.
- Focus on your Strengths: Instead of managing every aspect of the entire recruitment process, focus on what you’re best at and outsource the rest of the tasks. For instance, joining Hire Abroad can make perfect sense if you hate dabbling with onboarding and sales. Similarly, you can always benefit from working with a marketing agency if you find lead generation campaigns challenging.
- Use Data: track all relevant metrics and make data-based decisions. You might discover, for instance, that not all clients contribute to profits. Consider the 80/20 rule: often, just 20% of your clients generate 80% of your revenue. Focus your efforts on them and prioritise specialisation in areas that yield the most benefits with the least effort.
Advice to Employers in 2024
Regarding employers who want to get the best talent in 2024, our advice would be the following:
- Be Competitive: International competition is becoming fiercer. To stay relevant, ensure you create a value proposition that meets the expectations of foreign workers to make them prefer your company. Salary, housing, and other attractive conditions will be essential to attract and retain global talent.
- Adapt: Create opportunities for non-English speaking candidates when the job doesn’t require that specific skill. Consider forming teams of foreigners where only on speaks fluent English. This provides more opportunities for less fluent workers and it can also help in employee retention, as they can experience fewer misunderstandings and the lack of language barrier can help them form stronger bonds.
Is the End of Traditional Recruitment Here?
Google and other tech companies are constantly looking for ways to improve their AI-driven tool arsenal, even in the recruitment landscape. While a fully sophisticated tool has yet to be developed, artificial intelligence is already changing the industry.
These tools help automate the hiring process and enable recruiters to work more efficiently on larger (i.e., global) markets. From more effective candidate and vacancy matching to improved screening, these solutions can help recruiters find the best candidate for the job.
Will this mean the end of the traditional recruiter role? Not likely. As of now, AI solutions help streamline tedious processes, but the technology still lacks the refined human touch to assess aspirations, motivations, and company fit.
Grow Your Recruiting Business with Hire Abroad
While it’s impossible to predict the future, Hire Abroad’s CRM platform can help you concentrate on the present moment and get the most out of your recruitment processes or job openings.
Our platform connects trusted employment and recruitment agencies, giving them all the tools and resources to focus on their line of work and match top candidates with open vacancies.
In addition to improving match quality, the Hire Abroad platform helps you save effort and time by automating secondary tasks, enabling you to focus on what matters. Contact us to find out how you can join Hire Abroad and what impact it could have on your business.
