As we all know, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the staffing industry has had a lot to adapt to meet the demands of today’s labor market and environment.

One of the biggest challenges we’re all aware of has been the need to switch to remote work. Even now, with the worst effects of the pandemic seemingly behind us, many businesses are still using remote work or a hybrid approach to keep things moving, and it’s working.

2022 promises to bring new opportunities and challenges for agencies worldwide. Let’s dive into what leaders at mid-size and enterprise recruitment companies are prioritizing for this year and how you can set your team and clients up for success.

5 Staffing Industry Trends We’re Expecting to See in 2022:

  1. Virtual Recruiting
  2. Remote Work
  3. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  4. Diversity and Inclusion
  5. Social Media Recruiting

1. Virtual Recruiting

The use of virtual recruiting was already increasing before COVID-19 struck, but the pandemic has given a boost to it. Today, virtual recruiting is the primary recruiting method for a lot of businesses – not only to search for candidates online but also for virtual interviews and virtual onboarding processes. It’s proven to be effective for both employers and employees, allowing for a faster and more streamlined hiring process. This trend is expected to continue and be even more prevalent in 2022. We suggest staffing agencies that have yet to adapt to this new change to improve on their virtual recruiting process as they will be sure to gain an advantage over their slower-moving competitors.

2. Remote Work

Remote work looks to be another change that is here to stay and we must say, it’s working and working well – at least for us at Chameleon. Even as offices reopen, the benefits of a hybrid approach appear readily apparent. Not only can employers save money on office space and supervision but also they can maintain a greater sense of independence by working from home. However, we’re not entirely sure if this will become the primary way to work. Many companies still need plenty of staff to be on-site and there are still fears around employee time theft. Therefore, those working from home (either full or part-time) will likely only make up a quarter of the workforce. We suggest that depending on what industry your staffing agency primarily focuses on, you’ll want to keep a close eye on what their approach to remote work is. If it looks as though it will become more prevalent, then you’ll need to facilitate your remote talent acquisition and retention in 2022.

3. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI recruiting has become quite the buzzword in the staffing industry in the last few years. But what does it really mean? AI recruiting involves the use of artificial intelligence to automate parts of the recruitment process such as candidate sourcing, resume screening, interview scheduling, and automating reports. These systems can usually be adapted to sift through favorable candidates based on their answers for skills tests. When combined with data collection and analytics, recruiters can easily narrow down the candidate pool to the most preferable choices, saving them a huge amount of time in the process. We believe that this is certain to continue and may even become an industry norm in the coming years. As more recruiters get used to the concept of having AI take over the more repetitive and data-heavy tasks, the more prevalent it will become so we suggest learning as much as you can about these tools and how you can improve your process.

4. Diversity and Inclusion

Since remote work became widespread, diversity levels have increased! Employees are now being hired based on their skills and knowledge rather than their location. A workforce that’s diverse in terms of culture, race, religion, and gender will have a greater number of viewpoints to draw on, making them less biased and more adaptable to changes. We believe that every business should commit to diversity and inclusion. It’s important to note that candidates will be more drawn to join your agency if they see this as one of your company policies and clients will also favor those agencies that have taken a committed approach to this.

5. Social Media Recruiting 

For a long time now, social media has been a huge part of our lives, allowing us to communicate, express opinions, and find career opportunities. One survey found that 78% of recruiters have begun expanding their search for candidates beyond traditional sites like LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, and Indeed. They’re now also using Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media sites to find the right people. We suggest staffing agencies hop on this too! This is proving to be an effective way to reach younger age groups. The use of social media for recruiting is likely to grow with each passing year so having a strong social media presence for your agency is also a good way to develop your branding and marketing more effectively.

The key thing for any staffing agency that wants to keep up with current trends is to take a proactive approach. Devote time to looking at how your clients’ needs might be changing and how you can more effectively meet those needs.

Effective recruiting today also requires being able to leverage technology to your benefit. AI, automated recruiting systems, and integrated tracking systems, like those provided by Chameleon, can make your job a whole lot easier and more effective.