HR Tech & Talent Shortage Opportunities

There’s no escaping the news that talent shortages, skills gaps, and a demanding workforce (preferring remote over on-site) continue to make hiring and retaining talent a challenge for business. Across all industries, professionals are competing for applicants in a market so tight that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports* twice as many jobs are available than applicants to fill them. While some industries are feeling the crunch more than others, staffing issues are affecting most employers in the US.

Business leaders, desperate to attain or maintain staffing levels, are looking for options to help them capture and nurture talent. HR Tech founders can help fill some of these needs during talent shortages, enabling clients to leverage software solutions that are beneficial both today and when shortages decrease.

Talent Shortages Can Mean Opportunity

Talent shortages are across the board. For some industries, like hospitality, retail, and food service, the issue has a high impact on customer care. In others, like manufacturing and business services, shortages may mean the difference between accepting lucrative contracts or sales, and turning them down. For highly skilled workers, the only option may be upskilling talent with potential when qualified applicants are scarce. No matter the challenge, HR Tech founders are able to fill needs.

Attracting Unskilled Talent

Reaching entry-level workers and attracting them to apply has never been more difficult. More workers are opting out of searching for a job than in the past years, particularly in the youngest demographic, 16 to 24 year olds. This results in an increasing lack of entry-level workers, either with no work experience or with only educational credentials under their belt.

HR Tech founders can help businesses reach this demographic outside the traditional recruitment methods. Sourcing through social media platforms, where this cohort spends over 5 hours per day, can attract talent otherwise not looking for a job. Companies can offer business-specific passive recruitment, with algorithms that attract ‘foodies’ to restaurant jobs, ‘fashionistas’ to retail opportunities, ‘gearheads’ to positions in auto parts stores, and more. Whatever the industry, there are ways HR Tech can help employers scour social media for potential hires with an innate interest who are also demographically desirable.

Upskilling Talent

Finding talent that has the necessary skills and qualifications is challenging during talent shortages. Many companies are accelerating their processes to assure they hire available talent before the competition.

Another option is for tech that can analyze near-skilled talent for training potential. Algorithms could look for cross-qualifications that may be applicable or provide a basis for fast-track training. Rather than wasting an HR professional’s valuable time, technology can assess potential in moments—providing opportunities to hire for potential when qualifications are not available.

Developing Gateways for Hiring

Sourcing verifiable talent is another challenge for businesses. While many applicants claim they have the qualifications, businesses often find out post-hire that their skill set is lacking. The HR Tech industry can create skills testing for applicants that either eliminates them from consideration before they submit their application or moves them quickly to the interview process.

These pre-interview tests can be customized for every industry. They can be created to verify soft skills like customer-orientation, specific knowledge like software proficiency, or other types of qualification. HR Tech founders can work with businesses to tailor pre-interview testing to suit their specific needs or create generic testing by industry.

Building recruitment relationships

To keep a stream of talent on deck, business leaders can develop relationships with local colleges and universities. Where skilled labor is required, look to establish connections with schools that offer vocational training. Whatever skill set is necessary, building a relationship with local educators can help create a direct path to opportunity for students and business.

HR Tech creators can build systems that bridge the gap between business and educators. There are opportunities to create a one-stop-shop to outline and train for the skills needed today. Moving forward, tech creators can develop training protocols that help students, schools, and businesses train for the near- and long-term.

Infiltrating the Passive Talent Pool

The best way to find applicants in today’s market may be to hunt for candidates that aren’t actively looking for a job. According to a recent survey, more than half of American workers will be looking for a new job in the next 12 months. Capturing them before they hit the open market may be a highly effective recruitment plan.

Tech founders can help businesses search for candidates with platforms that look for matching skills, experience, qualifications, and send direct messages to the potential applicant before recruitment staff takes on a single task. If the candidate expresses interest, HR can take the lead. The sheer volume of passive talent increases the odds for businesses that someone who’s ripe for a move will respond positively. With no labor involved, it’s a smart investment and an open opportunity for HR Tech creators.

Appeasing Remote Talent

Businesses and the workforce may have been plunged into remote work at the onset of the pandemic, but they soon adapted and adjusted to the new model. Today’s workers are loath to return to the commute and the grind of on-site work. Forbes found 65% of workers want to continue to work remotely full-time; 32% prefer a hybrid work schedule. To accommodate this talent and maintain headcount, HR Tech providers have been working overtime to help make the transition, but more can be accomplished.

Emerging HR Tech should help remote workers deal with challenges they encounter when integrating with enterprise software. These daily frustrations can lead to attrition and a revolving door of recruitment. Tech with tracking capabilities can reveal where remote staff are experiencing logjams and when they’re able to access services and data seamlessly. Maximizing the remote experience could help attract and retain staff.

Remote productivity checks may not be a bad thing. While many businesses worry their employees are concerned about ‘screen checks’ that verify they’re on the job while on the clock, SHRM recently reported 90% of workers want their managers to have more visibility into their performance and productivity. Either to ease their bosses mind that they’re being productive or to showcase their skills, there may be growth in employee monitoring for HR Tech founders.

For workers who are not chained to a desk, technology can still fulfill needs. Automated systems can help businesses create schedules and routes so service providers can meet customer needs most efficiently. Systems can even be created for drivers, sales, and field workers to track time and travel expenditures.

Identifying and Minimizing Inefficiencies

Inefficient hiring often results in redundancies, and smart businesses need to scrub available talent before making cuts. HR Tech that scour job descriptions, applications, and resumes to find opportunities for transfers, cross-training, and upskilling may be highly effective recruitment and retention tools. In less than the time it would take an HR professional to analyze available talent to fill one vacancy, technology can analyze an entire workforce to find skilled workers for today’s openings and those in the future.

HR Tech Growth Options

Talent acquisition is a pain-point for business today, and there’s no end in sight. HR Tech founders can work with businesses on an individual basis or by industry, to identify problems and create solutions. Targeting an ever-increasing need could drive greater wallet share for tech companies, provide answers for business, and accommodate today’s more demanding workforce.

If your HR Tech company has already taken advantage of these opportunities and is experiencing impressive growth, it might be time to consider taking the next step. Due to demand in this space, investors and buyers are looking for HR Tech solutions to add to their portfolio and HR Tech founders could be looking at an even greater opportunity.

This material and the opinions voiced are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or entity.

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