Last month we brought you the first part of “Hiring in 2016: Our Recruiters’ Predictions” with insights into job growth, competition for top job candidates and recruiting trends. As you may recall, more than 60 percent of The HT Group recruiters saw a hiring increase in 2015, with a majority of those recruiters predicting the trend will continue in 2016. These 20 recruiters from Austin, Beaumont and surrounding Texas job markets had so many great insights to share, we decided to expand our coverage to include their individual observances and predictions for hiring in 2016.
These insights run the gamut of human resource management, recruitment, retention and specific industry trends. Some point out opportunities and potential advantages while others point out negative trends and potential missteps. We’ll cover many of these topics more in-depth in the coming year.
On areas of job growth:
- Companies are growing their social media brands and developing new apps to interact with their customers/clients, resulting in more technology jobs (even for traditionally non-tech companies).
- Jobs in wireless communications (hardware and software) will experience strong growth. In five to 10 years, most of the products you buy will have an IP address. There will be an explosion around the networks that manage that data. There will also continue to be paradigm-changing developments around the hardware and software that goes into those connected products.
- The “Big Data” craze will continue. We’re set to produce more data in the next few years than we’ve ever produced in our entire history. Utilizing and storing that data will create massive increases in engineering jobs and changes in the job market.
- We’re seeing an increased focus in business development/sales roles and specific engineering jobs by manufacturers.
When it comes to work roles:
- Many employers want to bring former employees (who had been let go) back on a consulting basis. Other employers are attempting to take what were, say, three positions and turn them into one, at a salary grade that does not match up.
- We’ll continue to see retained searches increase as companies realize their benefit to get the best talent.
- The retirement of many Baby Boomers is creating upward mobility within companies.
Regarding political and economic factors:
- The ever-spiking home values in Austin, in particular, will inevitably lead to greater difficulty with recruiting more qualified candidates to the market due to the cost of home ownership going through the roof.
- Election years like 2016 tend to make for a tumultuous economic landscape, which can affect job growth.
- Texas Bill SB20, which was put into effect September 1, 2015, to help limit government contract “fixes” has strained government agencies and their vendors in many areas, including staffing and recruitment. The process of bidding a service can now take three to nine months. Government agencies don’t have that kind of time to wait for a service. Job candidates can’t wait on a placement for that long, either. The word on the street is that SB20 will die in 2016.
Candidate competition may heat up:
- As more candidates flood the market, particularly in areas like technology. With more people coming into the job market with similar degrees, other factors like internships, work experiences and personalities becomes increasingly important.
- We’re seeing companies place more emphasis on personality, communication style, integrity and teamwork when screening job candidates.
What’s weighing on your mind when it comes to hiring in 2016? Are there any specific trends you’re excited about? Any insights on the list you’d like to know more about? We’d love to hear your thoughts and, perhaps, even include them in an upcoming post.
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