The past few weeks have seen momentous events across the country. During the period of national mourning, we saw the nation come together to reflect and give thanks for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s service. We said goodbye to one of the constants in our lives for the past seventy years and welcomed our new Sovereign.
As we return to everyday concerns, attention also turns to the shape of the UK economy and the challenges facing businesses and employers.
The recruitment market remained resilient during August and September 2022. Demand for workers was still high, but economic uncertainty, rising costs and ongoing candidate shortages were beginning to influence hiring activity.
For employers, this created a challenging environment. Businesses still needed people and skills, but attracting candidates required greater consideration of pay, recruitment processes and the overall opportunity being offered.
Understanding these changes was particularly important for businesses competing for sales talent. Our Recruitment Trends guide explores some of the wider workforce trends employers need to consider when planning their recruitment strategy.
UK Recruitment Market Update: August 2022
Recruitment activity continued to increase during August, although growth was beginning to slow.
According to the KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs, permanent placements continued to grow, but at a similar subdued rate to July. Temporary billings also increased at their slowest rate since February 2021.
Vacancy growth fell to an 18-month low, reflecting greater economic uncertainty and increasing costs. At the same time, candidate availability continued to fall rapidly.
This combination of candidate shortages and the rising cost of living contributed to further increases in starting pay for both permanent and temporary employees.
For employers, this meant thinking carefully about how they attracted the skills their businesses needed. Pay was one consideration, but businesses also needed to consider the complete opportunity they were presenting to potential candidates.
Our article on how to attract the right sales candidates looks more closely at the factors employers can consider when competing for sales talent.
UK Recruitment Market Update: September 2022
By September, weekly job postings had returned to levels last seen earlier in 2022.
Employer demand remained significant, but some moderation in hiring was becoming apparent as businesses responded to inflation and wider economic uncertainty.
The REC Labour Market Tracker recorded 143,000 new job postings during the week of 19–25 September, similar to levels last seen in April. There were also approximately 1.45 million active job adverts across the UK.
Although hiring demand was cooling, candidate and skills shortages continued to affect the market. For businesses, slowing vacancy growth did not necessarily mean that finding people with the right skills would become significantly easier.
Key UK Labour Market Indicators
The Office for National Statistics reported that the UK unemployment rate was 3.6% in May to July 2022, down 0.2 percentage points on the previous quarter.
There were also 1,266,000 job vacancies between June and August 2022, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous quarter. At the time, this represented the largest quarterly fall in vacancies since June to August 2020.
Despite the fall, vacancies remained considerably above pre-pandemic levels. The ONS reported that vacancies were 59.1% higher than between January and March 2020.
For employers looking to recruit, this meant competition for candidates remained significant. Developing a clear recruitment strategy and understanding what candidates were looking for continued to be important when building a dedicated sales team.
Employer Confidence Continued to Fall
Economic uncertainty was also affecting how businesses felt about the months ahead.
According to the REC’s JobsOutlook survey for June to August 2022, business confidence in the UK economy fell to a net balance of -64. Employers’ confidence in making hiring and investment decisions also fell to -26.
However, lower confidence did not mean businesses had stopped recruiting. Hiring intentions remained positive, demonstrating the difficult position many employers faced: businesses were becoming more cautious while still needing people to operate and grow.
For employers recruiting salespeople, getting the process right was therefore particularly important. Avoiding unnecessary delays, communicating clearly with candidates and presenting the opportunity effectively could all help businesses compete for talent. Our guide to avoiding costly hiring mistakes covers some of the areas employers should consider during the recruitment process.
What Employers Could Do Next
The recruitment market was changing, but employers were not powerless to respond.
Three areas were particularly important:
- Develop long-term workforce planning
Businesses needed to look beyond immediate vacancies and consider the people and skills they would require as they developed. - Prioritise good recruitment, diversity and inclusion
A strong recruitment process should help businesses identify capable people from a wider talent pool rather than unnecessarily limiting who can be considered. - Identify future skills needs
Understanding which skills would become increasingly important could help businesses recruit, train and develop people before shortages became more difficult to address.
Recruitment wasn’t simply about filling the next available role. Employers needed to think about the type of team they wanted to build and how their recruitment decisions could support the business over the longer term. Taking a longer-term approach to building a dedicated sales team can help employers consider the structure, skills and people they need as the business develops.
If you’re looking to strengthen your sales function, build a sales team with Citrus Connect or book a call to discuss your recruitment requirements.
