How to Deal With an Employee Shortage and Hire the Best Talent

Why is there an employee shortage?

The Great Resignation and ongoing labor shortage continues to challenge employers. From supply chain management to healthcare facilities, nearly every industry is feeling a strain due to a lack of available workers. 

Despite the labor challenges, companies can expand their candidate pool by adjusting their hiring strategy. We spoke with a few Aerotek staffing experts to learn how to deal with an employee shortage and still hire the best candidates for your open positions.

How do I hire the employees during labor shortage?

Promoting your job openings is crucial to quickly find the right workers and deal with an employee shortage. You have plenty of websites, job boards and even social media platforms at your disposal. Consider how a post on LinkedIn may help spread the word about your opportunity.

How to promote job openings during an employee shortage

“For entry-level positions we’re seeing that social media outreach works really well. Also finding groups in your community where workers are coming together can help spread the word. Find ways to network with those organizations to promote your company and job openings,” says Aerotek Delivery Executive Kristen Demirdjian.

Demirdjian also recommends that companies focus on the quality of their job postings.

“Good and credible job postings that share the company’s employee value proposition are a good way to attract the best talent during a labor shortage. Also consider when you are posting job openings. Posting during the middle of the week is currently more effective than posting on the weekends,” says Demirdjian

How to attract the best candidates for your job openings

The employee shortage has created a market that is strongly in favor of the talent right now. They can afford to explore opportunities across different companies for a position that fits their skills and goals. 

An effective way to attract the best candidates for your job openings and stand out among the other companies clamoring for talent is to be generous with the incentives. Offering a competitive salary or a sign-on bonus is a great way to ensure you attract the best talent. If possible, offer flexible scheduling or the option to learn new skills. Research your competitors’ offerings and see if your company can match or exceed them. 

“The level of flexibility required to recruit, onboard and retain workers is so different now than it was even a year or two ago. In a candidate-driven market if you aren’t creating or changing your processes to accommodate the candidate flow, you’re going to lose workers to companies that are”, says Director of Strategic Sales Tony Sanzone. 

How to overcome labor shortage: work with a staffing agency

It can be difficult to deal with an employee shortage and add new staff when you’re challenged by a limited candidate pool. That’s where a staffing agency comes in. They have relationships with workers and experience with promoting jobs. They’ve also likely worked with companies that experienced similar challenges. They can also be a valuable resource for streamlining your hiring process or interviewing strategy. 

“The companies that are winning and seeing the most success with attracting and retaining talent in the current market are the ones that are open to different types of success profiles from a candidate perspective. They’re also working to remove as many obstacles as possible to get workers in the door,” says Aerotek Strategic Account Executive Joe Parisi.

If you’ve been unable to overcome a labor shortage and fill a position, a staffing agency may be able to provide the support you need. They can also help you review and update your hiring and application process.