The maturation of the human capital market and a cascade of technological breakthroughs redefine how companies approach growing their talent pool.

Data-driven recruitment has already become the new norm, so what’s next? In this article, we’ll attempt to  answer that question.

Here’s 6 trends to watch in 2022 to stay ahead of the crowd and corner the competitive labor market.

1. More Candidates Will Prefer Virtual Recruiting

Virtual recruiting, the practice of hiring candidates remotely without face-to-face interactions, have  replaced traditional, offline job interviews.

While the rise of remote jobs was primarily a way for companies to adapt to the pandemic, 49 percent of students still prefer interviewing virtually even after pandemic restrictions are no longer a concern. Generally, virtual job searches are less intimidating, easier to prepare for, more flexible, and convenient, so it’s easy to understand candidates’ preference.

But, virtual hiring doesn’t benefit candidates alone. organizations who embrace virtual hiring will experience benefits including:

• Expanded candidate pool

• Cost savings on recruitment

• Positive brand identity among job seekers 

• Simplified talent management

Instead of meeting each qualified candidate in person, more organizations can set up a virtual hiring process with the help of online tools like Zoom, Entelo, or Calendly to start reaping these benefits. 

According to a study conducted by Zippia,only 16 percent of HR professionals in the U.S. are prepared to adapt their workflow to incorporate virtual recruiting. There is a massive opportunity to capture top talent with limited competition … for now.

Here are some great resources to help you learn more about one of the notable recruitment trends of 2022:

• Virtual Recruitment Strategies (Monster)

• Your Guide to Virtual Recruiting: Everything You Need to Know (Harver)

2. Hiring Managers Will Invest More in AI Recruiting Tools

35 percent of recruiting specialists believe AI recruiting is the trend that impacts their hiring decisions the most, while 38 percent of organizations are focusing their AI efforts primarily on talent acquisition.

Some of the benefits of using AI to enhance the hiring process include:

• Time savings for recruiters, talent acquisition specialists, and hiring managers

• Reduced costs related to sourcing and screening candidates

• Reduced bias from the hiring process

• Optimized workflows and processes

When integrated into your applicant tracking system (ATS), AI-powered talent acquisition tools bring unique insights into the hiring process, empowering HR specialists to make better decisions across the board.

Here are only some of the processes AI recruiting helps organizations with:

• Auto-screening candidates

• Managing communication with candidates

• Evaluating and prioritizing qualified candidates

• Automating non-value added activities

• Categorizing candidates into groups and clusters

• Building custom shortlists of candidates based on specified criteria

To help you get started, Beamery, Hiretual, and Entelo are AI recruiting tools you may want to integrate into your hiring process that happen to use PDL data.

3. Companies Will Embrace Diversity and Inclusivity to Attract Resourceful Candidates

Companies of all sizes and across all industries have been designing HR programs and policies to promote diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.

Based on a Forbes survey of over 300 HR leaders conducted, the priorities of companies are as follows:

• Recruiting diverse employees (65% of respondents)

• Retaining diverse talent (35% of respondents)

• Developing a robust pipeline of diverse talent (29% of respondents)

According to Harvard Business Review, organizations with diverse teams tend to perform better than their more homogenous counterparts.

A more diverse workforce means:

• Improved creativity and innovation in the workplace

• Positive societal impact on underserved communities

As a starting point, begin with analyzing your current HR practices and policies to identify potential areas of improvement. From there, you can start crafting and implementing diversity and inclusion programs that are specific to your organization.

Read More: 5 Key Talent Acquisition Strategies for Hiring Better Candidates

4. Predictive Analytics and Big Data Will Influence Hiring Decisions

Predictive analytics is a powerful tool that utilizes the power of big data to identify patterns and trends. Companies use these patterns and trends in a method called data modeling to make predictions about future outcomes.

In recruiting and talent acquisition, predictive analytics allows organizations to:

• Streamline the recruitment process

• Screen out candidates with poor job fit

• Identify and prioritize traits that correlate with high job performance

• Provide a better employee experience

Many large organizations are actively investing in big data and predictive analytics tools to enhance their HR functions, with talent acquisition being one of them.

Companies that follow their suit are almost guaranteed to gain a competitive advantage in 2022.

Read More: Growth Hacking with Data

5. Proactive Recruiters Will Snag The Best Candidates

As opposed to reactive recruiting where you rely on candidates applying for positions within your organization, proactive recruiting is aimed at spotting and building relationships with the right candidates even before opening a job position.

While the average hiring process takes 34 days to reach a decision, the best candidates are typically hired within ten days. Recruiters are finding that it’s no longer enough to publish a job ad and wait for qualified candidates to apply in droves.

Regardless of current employment status, 71 percent of people in the labor market are either engaged in an active job hunt or remain open to new opportunities. This means that by the time you push that job ad live, your best-performing candidates are likely already engaging with other organizations.

To adapt, recruiting and talent acquisition teams must adjust their approach. More recruiters will start building positive rapport with top talent ahead of time.

If you still haven’t started incorporating proactive recruiting in your talent acquisition efforts, these tips should help you get started:

• Optimize all of your corporate digital assets to boost your employer brand

• Engage in online and offline communities within your industry

• Network, network, network

6. Talent Acquisition Specialists Will Invest in Social Media Recruiting

Social media recruiting leverages the power of social networks to promote job openings, and connect with potential candidates on a deeper level. This approach allows organizations to engage with passive candidates - candidates who aren’t actively searching for new opportunities, but are open to them.

According to a study conducted by Statista, Americans spend 2 hours and 3 minutes each day on social media, so recruiters should follow their target audience to find more candidate touchpoints with a high-quality workforce.

To help you get the most out of your efforts, we suggest you focus on the following social media platforms:

• LinkedIn

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Instagram

Access the Required Data to Capitalize on New Recruitment Trends

The common thread running through the majority of the talent acquisition and recruitment trends covered in this article is data. Organizations utilize fresh and accurate people data throughout the whole recruiting funnel to improve candidate sourcing, screening, hiring, and onboarding.

People Data Labs provides HR teams with high-quality people data to take their recruiting and talent acquisition strategies to the next level.

With over three billion records and 150 data fields, you can create laser-focused recruiting campaigns to onboard the best candidates for any position within your organization - no matter how picky they are. Get in touch with our team today to get a free API key.

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