10 Trends that Job Seekers Should Expect to See

The job market continually changes, and 2019 promises to be no exception, according to the latest research published by a global organizational consulting firm. Here are 10 trends that job seekers should expect to see in the new year.

(Don’t) Mind the Gap! Most job seekers have heard that gaps – blank periods of time in work history – are a red flag to employers, but this trend is changing. With talent short, some firms are even deliberately seeking people with gaps who may want to return to the workforce.
Making Artificial Intelligence More “Intelligent.” Firms are applying artificial intelligence to their recruiting efforts to help them sift through the mountains of applications that they receive, but the use of these systems is still in its infancy. AI can be trained to look for objective skills needed for a specific role but is less capable of assessing other factors affecting fit.

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Personalized Pay: Go Ahead, We’re Listening. With many baby-boomers remaining on the job during the entry of Generation-Z (the “post-millennials”) into the workforce, employers are grappling with providing compensation and benefits to four different generations, each with their own desires and expectations. More so than in the past, companies are tailoring mixes of pay, flextime, paid time off, international assignments. Even student loan repayment and other benefits are used to attract the talent they require.
Rethinking the Annual Performance Review. Once seen as a critical aspect of talent development, more firms and employees are questioning the value of annual reviews. 43% of professionals believed that annual reviews had no impact on their understanding of how to improve their future performance. Many firms who pioneered annual performance reviews are revamping them to include real-time feedback.
Digging Deeper into the Diversity and Inclusion Pipeline. Firms are continuing to invest in diverse talent across their organizations. Beyond the more visible C-suite positions, companies are looking to measure diversity recruiting effectiveness using the applicant tracking systems used to manage their wider recruitment efforts.

How Are We Doing? Many firms are surveying candidates about their experience during the recruiting process, in hopes of improving potential hires’ experience as yet another lever for attracting the best talent in today’s job market.
That’s Really a Title? Off-the-wall job titles, long a fixture of start-ups and deliberately quirky companies, are moving into the mainstream. Expect to see more chief transformation officers and chief customer experience officers, along with the occasional data wrangler and legal ninja.
Talent Analytics is Becoming Just as Important as Business Analytics. Firms are beginning to leverage analytic approaches not only in the operations sphere but in talent management. With many firms facing challenges in finding the right type of talent, many hope to leverage analysis of geographic availability of skilled hires and compensation norms to improve recruiting.

Talking Talent Holistically, From Hire to Retire. Historically, talent decisions around recruitment, compensation, and development were managed in separate silos, but those systems are unable to take advantage of the massive group of talent data that firms face today. Expect structural changes to talent management organizations in hopes of better capitalizing on available information.
Managing Short-Term Hiring Needs with Long-Terms Business Goals. The increasing pace of technological change is pushing firms to make talent decisions faster, and with an eye toward future changes in business priorities. Firms need the right mix of full-time, contract, and, increasingly, “gig” workers, to get the job done today, but most also see a need for a longer term approach that is flexible.

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