For TALiNT Partners’ final TA leaders dinner of 2022, on 7th December we found ourselves in the luxurious Long Room at the Marylebone Hotel in London for a talent acquisition dinner in partnership with Eightfold.ai. The main topic of discussion? Talent planning for the uncertain year ahead. With the UK’s third Chancellor announcing a mini budget and major tech companies making mass redundancies, TA leaders were left feeling flummoxed about what to expect in terms of hiring and workforce planning in 2023.
Considering just weeks prior to this last supper, the UK’s third Chancellor of the Exchequer, The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, had announced the mini budget, talk inevitably turned to its contents and the expected ramifications thereof. Slowed economic growth and the cost-of-living crisis caused by high inflation and rising gas prices seemed to have put the brakes on hiring in the final months of 2022, with many heads of TA deciding to hold off hiring ‘for the time being’.
Not only did the mini budget cause ripples (perhaps rougher water than mere rippling) in the TA industry, but the recent announcements of mass redundancies in the tech sector by Microsoft, Twitter, Meta and the likes dominated the conversation too. Were the mass redundancies a sign of the times? Or simply an act to balance the hiring scales in the tech sector following the sonic boom of hires during COVID-19? Regardless, the TA leaders round the table were at a loss as to what to expect with hiring numbers and workforce planning in 2023, with some saying they feel it’s best to watch and wait before making harsh decisions.
After all, the government and many organisations still actively have plans for growth in the coming years, so to put a complete freeze on new hires seems premature. But the conversation didn’t stop there. The group also delved into the topic of ‘rejected candidates’, or those who narrowly missed the cut for a job but showed plenty of promise. One TA leader pointed out the negative connotations of the word ‘rejected’ and emphasised the importance of considering these candidates for future roles within the organisation. They may just need a little extra training to round out their skillset. In a market where talent is scarce, it seems obvious that candidates who mad second or third place should be considered as an untapped talent pool.
The discussion highlights the direct impact of economic and employment market shifts in the challenges of talent acquisition leaders, and the critical need to regularly access and assess accurate insight to avoid being blind-sided.
To round off another successful TALiNT Partners dinner, we pulled crackers, donned Christmas hats and read out the jokes found inside them. Sparshott, Head of Insight and Research at TALiNT Partners hosted an exceptional evening and we are looking forward to many more in the coming year.
TA leaders round the table were at a loss as to what to expect with hiring numbers and workforce planning in 2023
