Every day, tech layoffs and hiring freezes are grabbing headlines. Most recently, Zoom announced plans to cut about 1,300 workers—about 15% of its workforce—joining the ranks of Dell, Google, Microsoft, and many others. The widespread downsizing is driven by a massive hiring spree during the pandemic, combined with advertisers cutting spending and economic concerns like rising inflation and an impending recession.

But the hiring industry isn’t all doom and gloom. Despite these layoffs, the Labor Department’s January jobs report showed the U.S. added 517,000 jobs as the unemployment rate reached a 50-year low. In other words, the economy is still relatively strong, with sectors like government, healthcare, retail, construction, and professional and business services experiencing job growth.

With hiring dynamics changing daily, there’s never been a better time to refine your recruitment practices. Let’s look at some of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Opportunities for Startups and Traditional Firms

Since companies started shifting toward hybrid work, they realized they needed new systems, improved cybersecurity, and more. However, many organizations were too slow to build these systems during the pandemic. Now that the labor market is flooded with highly skilled workers, there’s an opportunity to capitalize on the influx of talent.

Suddenly, startups and other businesses find themselves in a stronger position to recruit engineers and other tech workers. If you work at a traditional firm, this is the perfect time to pursue employees with in-demand skills like data management, automation, and cybersecurity. It is also a good idea to approach currently employed developers and engineers looking for more secure employment opportunities.

Reliance on Technology and Automation

Technology and automation are being widely adopted to streamline the modern recruitment process. Some examples include applicant tracking systems, pre-employment assessments, and other automated systems. In addition, data and analytics are being used more frequently to inform recruitment decisions because recruiters can gain valuable insights from these metrics, such as cost-per-hire, time-to-hire, and other applicant data. At GoToro, each client is assigned a dedicated Service Delivery and Analytics team member who is able to provide them with real-time data and analytics on any aspect they want to know about how their campaign is performing. To ensure our clients are competitive, we even provide a pay analysis using our advanced technology to tell them what type of pay and benefits their competitors offer candidates for similar positions in similar areas.

Additionally, AI-powered software is gaining popularity. These tools automate and streamline the recruiting process so HR professionals can spend more time on the human side of hiring. In addition to reducing recruitment workloads and speeding processes, AI improves the candidate experience as well—text messaging or chatbots can help bridge communication gaps between recruiters and candidates so applicants can have their questions answered in real-time, which allows them to stay engaged throughout the hiring process.

New Cost-Effective Hiring Strategies

For organizations with limited budgets—which is most companies facing a possible recession—it’s even more important to lean on cost-effective hiring strategies. Many free recruitment resources can help you find the perfect employees to fill open roles. Some examples include:

• Social Media: According to a survey from Adweek, 92% of employers said they use social networks like LinkedIn to find talent. For many companies, it’s the go-to option for recruiting, ranking ahead of job boards and referrals. In addition, it’s an efficient approach because you can reach many people at once while establishing yourself as a thought leader and increasing brand awareness.

• Online Job Boards: Job boards are still an essential source for finding top performers. The key to a high return on investment is trying different ones and finding those that bring you the most qualified candidates. Some job boards, like Glassdoor, even give you the option of creating a company page that helps you showcase your employer brand.

• Employee Referrals: A referral program can be a cost-efficient hiring approach. For one thing, many of your employees already have extensive professional networks. It’s also effective because current employees can best articulate the company culture to outside parties. You can even incentivize employees with perks like additional paid time off, gift cards, or a cash bonus.

• Digital Job Advertising Companies: For maximum efficiency, consider engaging the services of a digital job advertising company to fill your open roles. Using a platform like GoToro’s can help ease the burden on your HR department, making it easy for a company to save time and money while increasing the quality and focus of the candidates your business interviews and hires.

Emphasis on Skills-Based Hiring

With the demand for skilled talent outpacing supply, many organizations have shifted to hiring based on skills. Recent research by Remote shows skills-based hiring is up 63% in the past year, with more employers valuing experience over academic qualifications. This approach is a win-win for both parties. For employers, it helps broaden the talent pool and speed up the hiring process. For employees, it removes salary barriers for those who don’t have a college degree.

This shift is accelerating, given that a growing number of professions don’t need a degree to perform their jobs. It also represents a significant opportunity to further workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion by opening doors for people historically excluded from jobs based on education.

Stay Ahead of the Changes

Despite a challenging economy, companies are still struggling to attract and retain highly skilled workers. That’s why being able to pivot and implement cutting-edge talent practices is more critical than ever. By staying ahead of the curve based on the needs of your organization, you’ll be able to win the war for talent—even during uncertain economic conditions.

Learn how GoToro can help your company find, hire, and keep the employees you want. Our digital recruitment advertising platform allows us to stay ahead of the shifting labor market with our quick, efficient, and effective hiring methods. Connect with us today and get a free demo.