Hiring Trends in 2014

By Jim Rudman, CEO, Ashton Tweed

Hiring trends change from year to year due to a number of shifting variables, especially in the ever-advancing life science industries. Whether you’re looking to hire, have reservations about the process, or are simply curious, it’s important to know what your colleagues and competitors are up to. See where your company falls amongst other companies in reference to 2014 hiring statistics:

Graphic: Kelly Services 2014

Trend #1:

There are many reasons that 61% of companies have reported difficulty recruiting staff, but one of the largest hardships today is finding quality talent. 87% of companies named a shortage of skilled recruiting staff as the number one culprit for recruiting difficulties. (Kelly Services)                

Trend #2:

When hiring a recruiting vendor or partner, there are a variety of expectations companies have about the hiring process.What used to be solely a cost-saving strategy a decade ago is now a multidimensional tool. Overwhelmingly, 88% of companies name a faster time to hire as the top advantage and expectation when hiring a third party recruiter. (Kelly Services)

Trend #3:

Despite the high levels of unemployment, 73% of companies intend to increase the number of internal full-time hires in 2014, and 57% plan to increase the number of contingent hires. Therefore, the competition to find top talent is as tough as ever. (Kelly Services)

Trend #4:

Although they are already employed, 51% of workers who currently have a job are either actively seeking, or are open to a new job.  Including those who are unemployed and looking, this implies that 71% of all workers in the U.S. are presently open to new job opportunities. (Capterra)

Graphic: Jobvite 2014

Trend #5:

The top sources of applicants are job boards and career sites. However, when analyzing the top source of hire, the statistics change drastically. Employee referrals generate 39.9% of all hires. In addition, employees hired by this method are hired 55% faster than employees that applied through a career site. (Jobvite)

Trend #6:

Social media has become a key tool to both job seekers and employers alike. But which social media site do recruiters use most? LinkedIn. 89% of recruiters have reported using LinkedIn to hire someone. Although popular sites, Facebook and Twitter were far behind at only 26% and 15% respectively. (Capterra)

Considering following the hiring trends of 2014? Click here to learn how Ashton Tweed can help.

Share your insights! Contact jamesrudman@ashtontweed.com to contribute your life sciences article as a guest writer.