Updated: August 19, 2022

Attracting Qualified Workers: Is It Even Possible?

In order to be successful, the staffing industry relies on both employers (business clients) and job seekers: employers need candidates for their open positions and it’s the recruiting and staffing agency’s job to identify candidates who meet the job requirements.

With the national unemployment rate now lower than the pre-pandemic record low at 3.5% in July 2022, employers are finding the challenge of hiring new candidates more difficult than ever before, much less finding candidates who are qualified.

Recruiting and staffing agencies are doing and innovating more than ever to attract and identify qualified candidates, including utilizing multiple mediums and new strategies, and allocating even higher budgets to recruiting and screening. These agencies work to increase their networks, invest in SEO and maintain a good reputation, yet still struggle to find candidates who can pass a background check and drug screen, have stable work history and transportation, and will actually show up and work. The lack of candidates is a problem, but the lack of quality candidates is an even larger one.

This puts recruiting and staffing agencies in the tough position of being caught between a rock and a hard place when filling jobs for clients. Even clients who understand the struggle of recruiting in today’s competitive job market are either unable or unwilling to make the strategic workforce changes required to remain competitive. The sad reality is that sometimes firms have no choice but to send the candidates who show up, regardless of their qualifications. This leaves us to wonder if it’s even possible to attract more qualified candidates in today’s economy.

Fortunately, the market has started to dictate necessary changes organizations can make to attract qualified talent. These changes will look different to each company, depending on their needs and ability to implement adjustments, but some common and popular trends include: flexible schedules or more varied shift options, unique incentives and bonus offerings, training and development opportunities, and of course, wage increases.

Employers adapting and developing new ways to recruit and retain candidates such as lessening their skill requirements and providing additional training and mentor programs, are starting to see greater success not only in recruiting more qualified candidates, but in hiring and retaining them. As these and other changes are put into action by more and more employers, it will become easier for recruiting and staffing agencies to attract and retain the qualified talent clients are looking for.