The labor market is more competitive now than ever before. Hiring quality talent in a post-pandemic world is complex. Although unemployment rates are up, so are the number of job vacancies available. Candidates have more options, are more likely to swap industries and are happy to retrain and learn new skills.

With all of this in mind, hiring remote workers during a labor shortage can be difficult. We’re here to help you identify how to help your company stand out from the competition and source, hire and retain the best talent available, even in the most testing times.

Why Is There a Labour Shortage?

The last two years have seen unprecedented changes in society and our daily lives, with events that have impacted the global labor market in ways we’ve never seen before. 

The coronavirus pandemic is the most obvious reason for the labor shortage. As daily life changed in ways we’d never experienced, people were placed on leave, employees were asked to work from home and huge sectors of the economy were shut down completely. This naturally led to people switching industries, developing new skills, reevaluating what they want to achieve and looking for new roles to better suit their needs.

More than 20% of workers switched jobs in the US during the pandemic, showing that people aren’t sticking to the sector they’re currently in, which can lead to shortages in industries, as we’ve seen in the hospitality sector.

In the UK, the formal commencement of Brexit has opened up a skills gap as skilled foreign workers have left the UK for other European countries.

All these combined factors make the hiring process much more difficult for HR teams. It now takes a lot more time to recruit, hire and retain staff, which impacts your resources.

Hiring During a Global Labour Shortage

The modern-day employee is far more aware of what’s on offer and how to find something that suits their needs. The power has switched. Employees look for jobs that offer more benefits than just average pay and with this, employers have to change to fill the labor gap.

Below, we explore the factors that impact hiring remote workers during a global labor shortage and what you need to consider to ensure you hire (and keep) the best talent within your industry.

Culture Is Key

What was once a buzzword, culture is now a key focus when employees seek a new role. 

Company culture is more pivotal now than ever before. If your culture is positive, it’ll show through employee happiness, retention, processes and strong brand identity. Even more so, thanks to social media and review platforms, word of mouth feedback carries weight.

People want to work somewhere where not only do they feel valued but where they can also work collaboratively on the path to success. 

If you’re looking to hire remote workers, this will matter to them. As they won’t be in a physical workplace setting and will instead be working remotely, it’s necessary for them to feel part of your workforce. Ensure your culture is intrinsic throughout your organization to make your roles as competitive as possible and keep your workers optimistic about working for you.

Offering Flexibility

Flexible working is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have. It’s one of the biggest crunch points for remote workers.

In terms of location flexibility, it’s simple. If you don’t offer a flexible working policy, you’ll naturally alienate the remote workers you’re trying to hire. Offering flexibility on location will also help open up the talent pool available to you. People in a wider geographical area may be more inclined to apply if they don’t have to commute five days a week.

In terms of working hours, flexibility is essential here, too. The pandemic gave people a lot more time to spend on the things they wanted to do — less time commuting and in the workplace meant more time to spend with family and friends or enjoying new hobbies and experiences. Now that everyday life is slowly resuming, this isn’t something that workers want to give up.

Ultimately, if the job role you’re trying to fill doesn’t cater to people’s growing need for a better work-life balance, then you’ll struggle to recruit the best people in the market.

Competitive Packages

Gone are the days where you could offer a competitive salary and it stopped there. It’s not just about money anymore. It’s as much about the extras that go towards making your company a good place to work.

Offering a competitive package of benefits will stand you in good stead when hiring remote workers. Benefits such as long service awards, wellbeing support, team activities, increased annual leave, healthcare packages and more are all things to consider when increasing employee sourcing and retention.

In a highly competitive job market, you must stand out against your competition to ensure you acquire the best talent in your industry.

Employee Value Proposition

An employee value proposition is how you effectively market your company to prospective talent. It’s what you’re offering to candidates in exchange for their skills and experience. View it as your sales pitch. What can you offer candidates and why would they want to work for you?

Making your employee value proposition as attractive as possible will be key to helping you hire remote workers, especially during a labor shortage when competition is high. Not only will it help you to attract the best talent, but it’ll also enable you to ensure you keep them. 

The pool of vacancies available to remote workers can be vast, as they aren’t tied to a geographical location. This, in turn, increases the competition you may have to face when looking to hire remote workers, so having a strong EVP will help you to be in a better position when looking for new candidates.

The Future of Hiring Remote Workers

Building engaging vacancies that are highly sought after is what will get you ahead when hiring during a labor shortage. Remote workers are in high demand, so standing out against the competition is important, particularly as remote working is set to become far more commonplace.

Focusing on important offerings, such as flexible working, a positive culture and a robust benefits package, will all work towards making the hiring process easier, quicker and less expensive in the long run.

If you need help to get there, we can assist.

Ready to Take Your Business to the Next Level? With GX One, We Can Get You There

Used by over 54% of the Global Market, our GXOne software is here to make life easier for HR departments. Managing all aspects of the employee lifecycle, GXOne helps keep employees on track and processes as efficient and smooth as possible. 

If you’re ready to expand into new horizons and hire talented people despite the current labor shortage, make sure you check out the GXOne platform below.