Amid all the talk about the Great Resignation and general labor market turmoil, it’s easy to forget that high labor demand is no longer applicable across all job functions and industry segments. Recruiters facing labor shortages in certain industries might want to consider expanding their search to include candidates from nontraditional backgrounds.
Job Shortages May Be Long Term
“Wide-scale layoffs throughout the past year have touched many job functions across industries. But workers in certain careers have particularly felt the impacts,” writes Alex Christian in an article for BBC Worklife. “As firms have slashed their marketing and publicity budgets, and frozen hiring, the employees performing these job functions have found themselves axed in high numbers, particularly in tech.”
And the implications may be even more dire, Christian suggests, with some experts indicating that these types of roles may face longer-term job market uncertainty. They caution that employees in these segments shouldn’t necessarily assume they’re in for a short-term career break. Unlike company-specific layoffs because of an organization’s performance, current trends suggest broader labor market changes that may make certain functions increasingly obsolete.
This means that many skilled professionals may soon be looking for opportunities outside of their original career paths.
Considering Nontraditional Candidates
“For workers hit hardest by the recent waves of layoffs, a new full-time role may not be imminent,” Christian writes. “In a cooling labour market—especially in their job functions—their options are either to apply for as many vacancies as possible, take on any available freelance work, reskill and career switch or simply ride out the job-market limbo for as long as they can.”
The opportunity here for employers should be clear. Large pools of highly educated workers may be available and willing to transition to new job functions. While these candidates will likely need some upskilling or reskilling to take on new job-specific duties, they generally should possess the types of soft skills essential for success in any professional setting: teamwork, communication, time management, etc.
It’s a segment that savvy employers should be considering.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.