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Internal mobility and tech budgets on the up as layoffs gather pace
Fri, 24th Mar 2023
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Internal mobility and tech budgets are on the rise as layoffs gather pace, a new report has revealed.

HireVue, a global specialist in video interviewing, assessments, and text-enabled recruiting tools, has announced the findings of its third annual global trends report, with key insights into how hiring leaders and candidates are responding to hiring trends that vary significantly from one industry to the next.

The annual survey asked more than 4,000 talent leaders across industries such as software, finance, and retail to describe how they have adapted hiring plans in lieu of current events. Respondents report increasing technology budgets to improve hiring efficiency (30%) and a greater emphasis on internal mobility (50%), especially in sectors that experienced more hiring freezes (finance) or layoffs (software).

"This year's survey confirms that were at an inflection point in global workforce trends, where demand for new skills is colliding with changing candidate demographics and expectations," says Anthony Reynolds, CEO at HireVue. 

"The good news is that many job seekers are pausing searches to stay longer-term in careers at companies that will help them upskill, re-skill and grow," he says.

"Equally, employers are willing to fill new roles by retaining and investing in their current team members."

Prioritising skills over resumes

Faced with ongoing shortages, employers are exploring alternatives to traditional hiring approaches such as relying solely on CVs and resumes. Instead, almost half (48%) of those surveyed adopted a skills-first approach to talent acquisition, forgoing education requirements and past work experience.

To efficiently validate candidate skills amidst changing requirements, organisations are prioritising hiring technology that can analyse a candidates profile beyond traditional criteria. Of the leaders surveyed, 58% leveraged standardised assessments, 32% implemented game-based assessments, and 40% added chatbots or text recruiting to their processes.

These changes have widened the talent pool and raised the quality of that pool by attracting a more diverse workforce companies report targeting more diverse candidates (45%) and mature aged workers (41%).

Employers find stability in internal mobility

When it comes to future proofing the hiring process, it's clear to see businesses are quickly getting on the same page. In fact, 48% of employers emphasised internal mobility for their current workers presenting an opportunity to opt out of the fierce competition for external candidates without sacrificing productivity to languishing open reqs.

"To stay ahead of the competition in a constantly changing hiring environment, hiring leaders are disrupting old processes by embracing new mindsets and enabling their teams with cutting-edge technology, and they are reaping the benefits and finding top-level talent."