The facts back up what staffing agencies nationwide are experiencing:
- 916,000 more jobs were announced in the April 2021 jobs report.
- 60.1% more manufacturing jobs on Indeed as of April 9 vs. February 2020, according to the Indeed Hiring Lab.
- Google Search Trends for “jobs” and related terms are lower now than they were at the bottom of the pandemic in March 2020.
- Our data at Haley Marketing shows a 48% increase in cost per application on Indeed during the 2021 calendar year and a 19% decrease in application conversion rates since the beginning of March.
- Government assistance continues in the form of $1,400 stimulus payments, extended unemployment, tax breaks, tax refunds, and health insurance support.
We’re painfully aware of how difficult recruiting is right now, but that doesn’t mean we can keep doing what we’re doing to expect different results. Now’s the time to try different tactics. Implement both short- and long-term ideas to connect with the active candidate and stay top-of-mind with the passive candidate who isn’t ready to return to the workforce just yet.
Here are tactics to help with your recruitment marketing through all four pillars.
Career Sites
- Examine the conversion path optimization – when a visitor arrives on your website, how easy is it for them to find your job board, and how easy is it for candidates to convert? Application costs are already rising, and you don’t want to exacerbate that problem by making it difficult for candidates to convert (especially if they’re on mobile!).
- Do you have a chatbot? If you don’t, you’re missing out on website visitors who want answers on their time. And a great chatbot won’t require your team to answer manually. Find a solution that answers common questions and collects the contact information of interested job candidates.
Job Advertising
- Focus on jobs that you can fill right now – whether it’s by industry (clerical/admin haven’t taken as much of a hit) or by wage ($17/hour is a common starting point). Put the sponsorship dollars behind jobs that candidates want to apply for and avoid posting and praying.
- Make the application as simple as possible. Do you really need five pages of information, or can name, email, phone number, and resume be enough to determine if a follow-up is warranted? And please, please, please, we beg you, eliminate any reference to social security number.
Social Recruiting
- Video. Video. Video. And be consistent with the video! Connect with your audience through job postings, recruiter videos, and a day in the life. Showcase your COVID safety precautions and ease any fears people have of getting back into the workforce or switching employers.
- Employee-generated content – how can you get your current employees to share content that talks about how much they love working for your staffing company? What can you provide them to share on their timelines and connect with their friends and family?
Employer Branding
- “Why Staffing” – if fewer people are applying for jobs, it’s time to increase our potential candidate pool and get more people to focus on finding a job in the staffing industry.
- “Why Your Staffing Agency” – your company traditionally focuses on this area but now isn’t the time to ignore your differentiators.
- What is the employee value proposition (EVP) for why a candidate should work for your company compared to your competitors across town? Or why you’re going to help them today when they don’t HAVE to work to be financially secure.
Five Quick Hitters
- Put a fly-in on your website promoting jobs you’re most likely to fill.
- If it’s a WFH/Remote job – put that right in the job title.
- Record and post a 30-second video of an employee talking about the difference your staffing agency made for them.
- Post testimonial graphics of your five-star reviews across social media.
- Send a press release to local media talking about a job fair you’re holding and mention the number of job orders.
Reach Out to the Team at Haley Marketing for a Focus Call on Your Recruitment
We’re here to help – through good times and bad times. Our recruitment marketing team would love to offer a complimentary 30-minute evaluation call of your recruitment marketing. We’ll examine the four pillars and share areas of improvement across your recruitment strategy.
