should I be hiring or holding ground?

With the economy slowly recovering it can be difficult to know whether or not or when to grow your workforce.  So, here's a brief overview of whether or not to hire during the current climate and what trends we've been seeing.

Alternatively, if you want to read the full report you can get your hands on it by requesting a copy here. Or if you're looking to find your next star employee then get in touch with one of our many specialist consultants or submit a brief.

Hiring intentions
There are many areas of this report which mesh together, and the question of whether to hold off or to hire links with a lot of these. As discussed elsewhere, managing internal change, people, and productivity are the issues which organisations report as their major current concerns. This is a shift from previous years when the big challenge was attracting and retaining talent.

But it’s worth noting that around a quarter of organisations say they intend to make some small increases in full-time staff. As the upturn comes, more companies will need to hire. The picture seems to be hold now, but get a strategy in place to hire. So how do you hold, and how do you make plans to hire?



Finding flexible solutions
Around 40% of organisations identify a skills shortage in their industry. Similar numbers say that these shortages are increasing stress and workload amongst staff. But less than a tenth believe that this under-supply of skills is increasing staff turnover and a small but not insignificant group say it’s a problem which is having a negative effect on productivity.

Graduate recruitment
On the graduate recruitment front, vacancies have dropped whilst numbers of graduates have risen. As a result, most organisations (according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters) now insist on a 2:1 degree as a minimum, and the average salary has been frozen at around £25,000 since 2008.

The hope is that with the need for STEM graduates rising quickly up the UK Skills Councils’ agendas, and with the government promising investment in apprenticeships, organisations will begin to focus on developing skills and potential amongst those about to join the jobs market.

You can also check out our brilliant HR video guides here