His vision of recruitment in 2023
How to qualify the year 2022 for your practice?
Thibaud Chalmin: The year of the century! A record year. Even better than the turn of the year 2000.
And in 2023, what changes do you expect?
T.C. : Since the Covid, we have been told of a turnaround and even a collapse in recruitment. So far, he hasn’t shown up. We want to believe that the investments necessary for the ecological transition will continue to drive the market. A bit like the period of reconstruction which had followed the Second World War.
Future activities: ecological transition and relocation
Which sectors inspire you with confidence for recruitment in 2023?
T.C. : Everything related to ecological transition. At the moment, I am recruiting for a group in the energy sector. They are in the process of developing a subsidiary in the field of thermal insulation of buildings. With public aid: it has become a real El Dorado. The candidates I contact are over-solicited! I also think of the relocation in France strategic industries: it started with the production of masks and gowns during the Covid. Tomorrow it will be semiconductors, batteries and solar panels, etc.
Candidates have become accustomed to being approached without having to apply.
A balance of power in favor of the candidates
How will candidate and company expectations evolve in 2023?
T.C. : On the candidate side, they are expecting increases remuneration which, at a minimum, will have to compensate for inflation. And then of course, more flexibility in the organization of working time for a better harmony between professional life and personal life. Employers, for their part, are still very cautious. They anticipate a possible recession in 2023. They therefore say to themselves: why increase wages today, if the balance of power with the candidates is reversed in a few months in our favor. It’s a risky bet, because in the meantime they can’t recruit and their teams are on the verge of burnout due to understaffing…
What notable changes in recruitment processes in 2023?
T.C. : Candidates have become accustomed to being approached without having to apply. The balance of power is favorable to them. Mainly for executives who have between 3 and 15 years of experience: punchy and not yet perceived as too expensive by companies. It is always this type of profile that pulls the market. Continuing from 2022, videoconferences allow greater speed and agility in the recruitment process.
More opportunities for seniors and atypical profiles
Will we see more openness to senior candidates?
T.C. : The thirties are almost all in office: companies must therefore agree to open their recruitment to more experienced and therefore more expensive profiles. I recently had a 56-year-old systems and network engineer recruited by a large institution. After two months of research and the presentation of many younger candidates who had refused to join them, my client ended up opening up to less standard profiles.
The shortage of executives forces companies to agree to recruit more atypical profiles.
More openings for executives who want to change sectors? of region?
T.C. : The shortage of executives forces companies to agree to recruit more atypical profiles, fewer clones; to take more risks. The risk of being surprised for good! I had a legal director recruited by a company in the real estate sector. She lived in London and she came to live in Montpellier. She maintained her salary, but she significantly increased her standard of living due to the difference in the cost of housing. And that’s not to mention the quality of life!
Uncertainty, teleworking and energy sobriety
Looking back, has the health crisis changed the skills required of executives?
T.C. : More suppleness, flexibility. Learn to manage and decide under uncertainty. Never again will anything be certain, even the worst!
What questions are candidates asking that they weren’t asking before?
T.C. : The possibility of taking a position totally or partially in full remote.
Do you have a favorite question for candidates that you haven’t asked before?
T.C. : Is the temperature of our premises suitable for you? We contribute to energy sobriety.
A labor market without rules or taboos
What better strategy to achieve a salary gap in 2023? To stay ? Leave ? To come back ? Form ?
T.C. : All scenarios are possible depending on the situation (and not just the fact of going to the competition). Everything became possible. There are no more rules or taboos. I have a friend who, a few years ago, had left a company in the luxury sector to join the big rival house. He had been made to understand that it was seen as a betrayal that he would not be forgiven. He was nevertheless able to return to it recently, realizing in the process a salary gap of 20% compared to his initial position.
The era of rejection… of candidates
What will emerge best for your job as a recruitment intermediary?
T.C. : A bigger kindness corporate clients on atypical profiles. Until now, it was more present in the speech than in the reality of recruitments. One of the missions of the headhunter is to inform the company about the realities of the market. We are at the forefront. When you have a hundred refusals from candidates who nevertheless correspond to the client’s brief: it means that you will have to open up to other profiles…
2023: the year of female managers
Do you have more “yes” votes for the hiring of female managers? And to enter CAs?
T.C. : Three quarters of companies explicitly ask to recruit a woman. And for the remaining 25%: the person’s gender doesn’t matter. Ladies: it’s finally your time!
You might be interested:
MARIGNAN Consulting in a few figures:
- 20 recruitments in 2022
- A consultant in 2022
- CA 2022: 250 k € euros
