The CIPD’s 2022 Resourcing and talent planning report, produced in partnership with Omni RMS, explores the difficulties that UK employers are facing in recruiting and retaining people during the cost-of-living crisis. Now in its 23rd year, the report and supplementary case studies help employers and their people teams make informed decisions about people management and investment.

While these findings are based on UK data, the broader trends and implications should be of interest wherever you are based. 

 

Theme spotlight: Recruitment levels

Increasing competition for talent and shortages in the labour market have made it difficult to recruit people at all levels. Recruiting for senior and skilled roles has proved most challenging for employers, but organisations have also struggled to attract low-skilled candidates.

Employers looking to recruit people at different levels should think holistically about their workforce and take a proactive approach to widening their talent pools. To adopt a more proactive approach, consider varying your outreach efforts and the channels you use to attract people. Organisations should also take time to engage candidates throughout the recruitment process and remove any barriers that might stop people applying at different levels.

Employers continue to experience skills shortages and recruitment difficulties across roles but more pressure is being faced for senior and skilled positions. There are a range of things organisations can do to attract more people into their organisations like using inclusive recruitment methods, developing a strong employer brand and providing transparency around pay and benefits.

Claire McCartney, Senior Policy Adviser, Resourcing and Inclusion

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Report: Resourcing and talent planning 2022

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Case studies: Resourcing and talent planning 2022

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Key findings

Competition for talent remains high

Competition for talent has increased over the last year and recruiting for senior and skilled roles has been the most challenging (58%). 60% report that talent is more difficult to retain now than last year, but organisations are taking steps to improve the situation by increasing their recruitment and talent management budgets.

Employers focus on better pay and benefits

Organisations are increasingly offering better pay and/or benefits to address recruitment difficulties (36%, up from 29% last year). This is now the most common step organisations take to improve retention. There are considerable sector differences, however, with private sector organisations far more likely to increase pay than public sector organisations.

Variable efforts to increase diversity

61% have a formal diversity policy and the majority are taking steps to attract diverse candidates. Just 35% are actively trying to recruit talent of all ages, while less than a quarter advertise in different sources to attract under-represented groups (24%). Meanwhile, roughly a third (32%) of organisations are active in their efforts to recruit more diverse candidates to the board.

Upskilling defends against recruitment challenges

Nearly two-fifths of organisations (38%) are increasing efforts to meet their skills requirements by developing more talent in-house. Upskilling existing employees is the most common response to recruitment difficulties (60%). Almost half of organisations (46%) currently offer apprenticeships, around a third have graduate and/or post-A-level entry routes and just over a quarter have intern schemes.

Flexible working aids recruitment and retention

69% advertise at least some jobs as ‘open to flexible working’. 54% (of those who've said they've experienced recruitment difficulties) are offering greater work flexibility to address their recruitment difficulties. 68% of organisations that offer hybrid/remote working report it has allowed their organisation to attract and retain more talent.

Technology use boosts candidate experience

80% say their use of technology in the recruitment process has increased as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. Organisations report increasing benefits from their use of technology, the most common being increased accessibility for candidates. This year, a higher proportion say that their use of technology has improved candidates’ experience and sped up the recruitment process.

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