The Great Resignation, Reskilling Revolution, flexible talent models, and quantifiable diversity goals are just some of the disruptions talent teams have been grappling with for the past 3 years. So, what will the talent acquisition landscape look like in 2023? 

Directly from the experts, we asked our HR leaders from across the globe to share the key trends that they expect to have the most impact on talent acquisition and talent management in 2023: 

‍TALENT TREND #1: Talent demand will continue to be unmet even through a recession.

‍“Many leaders think the impending recession will solve our labor shortage challenges, but this is not the case. We will continue to see an imbalance of labor supply and demand, and will need to leverage innovative solutions to make progress.” - VP Talent, a Fortune 50 company

“Double down focus on creating thriving internal labor markets with skill shortages and high attrition levels being the new norm, and restrictions due to economic conditions.” - Paul Phillips, Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Avanade

“The recession will hit but will have a quick talent turnaround.” - Brad Cook, VP Global Talent Acquisition at Intuitive

"It's increasingly likely that the United States will face long-term hiring challenges due to aging demographics and slower immigration in recent years, population trends shift slowly over decades and our labor force needs must be framed with that long-term perspective," said Aaron Terrazas, Glassdoor's chief economist in conversation with Business Insider

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TALENT TREND #2: Companies will focus on creating more employee development opportunities, unlocked by technology, that go beyond promotions to increase retention.

“Major focus on support for internal mobility.” - Peter Leavitt, Director of Digital Talent Acquisition at Takeda

“A much more conservative approach to how many open positions will be available to the external market.” - Mary Major, Operations Program Lead, Global Talent Acquisition at General Motors 

While it is important for organizations to focus on the talent development of their current workforce by offering regular training to reskill and upskill, it is also crucial to invest in new technologies that bring the most relevant options to employees and their managers at the right time. With less than 10% of employees proactively engaging in internal growth options when they could, it is especially important to provide employees with growth opportunities that come to them, enabling them to take control of their development. The current approach provides high risk of top talent loss and manager challenges in awareness of all available growth opportunities for employees on their teams - from new jobs, projects, upskilling, and even mentorship programs from company’s existing systems, such as the HCM, LMS, CRM, and talent marketplaces or applicant tracking systems. There's information about internal employees who have previously applied for roles thus showing what they’re interested in for their next job even if they weren’t hired, as well as those who are top performers but not viable for promotion yet but likely still need new ways to grow. These are the vital insights to personalizing and augmenting a manager or HRBP from owning the entire burden to create a proactive and tailored employee growth experience for every employee. There's an opportunity for a better solution, one that uses technology to bring the most relevant options to the right people at the right time. 

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TALENT TREND #3: The market will continue to see a wider array of new employer-employee constructs, including the decline of rigid corporate structures and hierarchies.

“I believe that we will see a continuation of the current trend where candidates value flexibility and humanity in employers as well as their jobs.

Coming out of the pandemic, and into the Great Resignation, I feel it's becoming even more important and evident that candidates are aligning more with competent leaders and companies who inspire trust that they will be able to navigate through the turbulent times on the world stage.

‍Ego driven leadership is going to have to make even more room for compassionate leadership where people come first. Companies that know how to leverage that will be prosperous. Ones that cannot, or have a difficult time shifting from the outdated mindsets, will also have a difficult time attracting quality talent, and more importantly keeping it.” - Maria Reljic, Systems Implementation & Projects Manager at Credit Suisse

A recent McKinsey survey of managers and employees found that employers often fail to understand just why workers leave their jobs. In particular, employers tend to overrate “transactional” factors such as pay and development and underrate the “relational” elements—a feeling of being valued by managers and the organization, the companionship of trusting teammates, a sense of belonging, a flexible work schedule—that employees say matter most. This year, companies will focus more on breaking down such traditional employer-employee constructs and on offering a plethora of work flexibility options that are relevant for employees, while also supporting the organization’s values, culture and goals. 

 TALENT TREND #4: The market slowdown will erase unsustainable HR practices from the Great Resignation and increase focus on technology, people, and process improvement. 

“We will see a slowdown of the aggressive sign on bonuses that are being offered in the market today.” - Global Director of Talent Acquisition & Talent Partnership, a Fortune 50 company

According to “The New Wave of HR Transformation'' report by Aptitude Research, only 22% of HR leaders surveyed reported progressing to more advanced processes as a top priority for 2023, 21% reported maximizing their existing investments in people, technology, and processes, and only 17% reported increasing capacity of hiring teams without adding resources. The market slowdown will give organizations the time to not only cut down on unsustainable practices like offering aggressive sign-on bonuses to attract quality talent, but also focus on establishing healthier and more long-term hiring and retention strategies. 

And To Round It All Up… Here’s What HiredScore Predicts For 2023

“Talent scarcity, labor market challenges, and increased business pressure will drive HR leaders to promote solutions that leverage connected-HR-capabilities that converge recruiting, people development, and workforce planning to solve the hardest workforce problems.”

“HR will leverage their seat at the strategic table to drive the organization to expand the way the business collaborates and drives workforce goals and connects with the HR functions in a proactive way, putting their organizations ahead of competitors and unlocking strategic HR capabilities.” - Athena Karp, Founder and CEO at HiredScore.

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