14% of employers plan to recruit executives in the 1st quarter of 2023
We could have said that with the war in Ukraine, the inflationary context, the growth that promises to be “flat” this year, companies were going to put the soft pedal on executive recruitment. It is not so !
According to the latest Apec barometer* published on February 9, 14% of employers plan to recruit at least one manager within 3 months. That is 4% more than in the 3rd quarter of 2022. Depending on the size of the companies, recruitment volumes obviously vary.
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Recruitment concentrated on very buoyant professions
Some executive professions are more buoyant than others. APEC distinguishes 3 categories:
Why are hirings continuing despite the gloomy economic climate?
Executive hiring mysteriously escaped the ambient gloom. Explanations vary according to economists:
- On the one hand, the clan of those who think that this dynamism is transient, and that one day there will inevitably be corrections. Namely, less job creation and a demand for increased productivity of the forces involved. And there, it may sting severe.
- On the other hand, those who believe, on the contrary, that we have arrived at the end of a very productivist model (relocations, saving on the payroll) and that we are gradually returning to more reason.
Sustained hiring due to difficulties in recruiting?
On the subject, Gilles Gateau, director general of Apec, is careful not to decide. For him, the explanation is elsewhere and in particular to be sought on the side of the extension of recruitment times, to 11 weeks in 2022 (8-9 weeks in 2021).
“Pausing recruitment for a few months means taking the risk of no longer finding the right talent when the economic situation is again more favourable,” he argues. And to mention the case of companies having tried the blow during the covid crisis and which, on the day of the restart, found themselves lacking to staff their teams and resume the pace imposed by the market. According to him, companies are covering their backs by continuing to hire.
Companies have their backs also because they have a hard time hiring. In 2022, 6 out of 10 companies actually encountered difficulties in recruiting, 17% of whom really struggled a lot. And 2023 is obviously not looking any better on the subject. 79% of companies are already anticipating difficulties on the subject.
Recruitment difficulties due to the behavior of candidates
The first problem for recruiters? “Too few relevant applications (56%),” respond the recruiters surveyed. But that is nothing new on the executive job market. On the other hand, employers now bear the cost of candidates who do as they please. between those who withdraw during the process (40%) because caught up by the very attractive counter-offer from their current employer, or by a more interesting external offer, and those who ultimately refuse the job offer (35%), recruiters find themselves in trouble.
So much so that according to the Apec Q1 2023 barometer, more than a quarter of the boxes had to give up at least one executive recruitment in 2022.
Employers who adjust their recruitment practices but obviously not enough or not as they should
One would think that in this talent war that has been in full swing for several years, employers are finally learning from the situation. It is clear that this is not always the case. According to APEC, only 51% of companies have reinforced or diversified the sourcing of candidates. So the other half didn’t catch on. Ditto on the employer brand, the candidate experience, etc.
“Companies have not yet taken the measure of the changes to be made on this subject of recruitment. Or else they don’t know how to do it. With half of our clients, our interlocutor is directly the business manager who is not an HR expert or an HR manager alone to deal with these subjects and who therefore does not have the resources to carry out these changes”, underlines the CEO of APEC. It is no coincidence that the share of executives contacted by a recruitment firm has never been so high.
Companies that agree to negotiate higher starting salaries
Concerned about their purchasing power and knowing that they are in a position of strength on the job market (virtually full employment for managers because unemployment rate at 4.1%), candidates state their requirements in terms of starting salary. And 56% of employers (ie +9 points in 1 year) agreed to raise the salaries of new recruits.