Tight Talent Market: Employers Fight to Recruit and Retain
Today’s tight talent market is greatly influencing benefits decisions. The U.S. unemployment rate is at 17-year low. That means there is less available talent and more open job opportunities that need to be filled. The competition for talent is fierce, and job-seekers have the upper hand with the knowledge that if they are unhappy in one position, there are plenty of others to choose from.
For employers, this increases the need to craft a powerful recruitment and retention package that draws in top talent and dissuades current critical employees from going anywhere.
Talent Market Highly Affected Industries and Positions
These industries and positions in particular are really feeling the effects of the tight talent market:
- Healthcare: The nursing shortage is projected to financially affect the healthcare industry for 3 to 4 years. The shortage is also expected grow as baby boomers retire and the need for healthcare grows.
- Information Technology: IT is ranked the second hardest skill to find when trying to fill a position. One of the biggest talent shortages lies in cybersecurity, where it is predicted that there will be 1.5 million unfilled positions internationally by 2020.
- Manufacturing: Over the next ten years, 2.7 million manufacturing employees are projected to leave the workforce. Similarly, skilled trade positions, like electricians and plumbers, are expected to see a huge influx because baby boomers are retiring and new generations entering the workforce are choosing different fields.
- Fashion: Within the fashion industry, competition for the best talent is especially fierce. The most difficult jobs to fill are in design and product areas, followed closely by digital and technology roles.
Recruitment/Retention and Benefits Goals
While recruiting and retaining top talent is a high-ranking objective for employers, so is controlling benefit costs. And because benefits are the top consideration before an employee accepts a position or leaves a company, these two objectives are very interconnected.
However, a common way to control benefits cost is to degrade coverage, and unfortunately, this often has a negative effect on recruitment and retention. With the tight talent market, employees are confident in their ability to find opportunities elsewhere if a company’s benefits package is not up to their standards. So degrading coverage can lead job candidates to not accept a position and drive current talent to leave the company. This can be detrimental.
Another Way with Supplemental Expense Reimbursed Insurance
Supplemental expense reimbursed insurance makes it possible to layer on additional, powerful healthcare coverage for just those difficult to recruit and retain employee groups. The ability to carve out coverage helps companies control benefit costs for the entire population while providing an extra boost to aid in recruitment and retention goals. This capability is game-changing in today’s tight talent market, making it not only possible, but easy to secure talent without breaking the bank.