What's News in Employment and Hiring – September 2022

Welcome to our monthly roundup of employer-related news and trends. This month we cover hiring incentives, women in the C-suite, hiring tips for the coming holiday season, how a 4-day work week boosted employee productivity and wellness, and how “boomerang employees” returning to their old jobs are bringing in more money than before they left.

Extraordinary Employee Incentives Still in Play

According to a new Harris Poll survey commissioned by Express Employment Professionals, four in five U.S. hiring decision-makers (80%) say their company is taking steps to make hiring easier – including offering higher starting salaries (33%) and hiring bonuses (29%).

The survey found that more than a quarter reported they are offering remote work (27%) and/or offering better benefits (e.g., more paid time off, flexible hours, 27%). Around 1 in 5 (21%) say their company is expanding the geographic areas where they advertise open positions (e.g., other cities, states), offering more internships (19%), and/or reducing qualification criteria for open jobs (19%).

Mismatches between employers and employee expectations were also a concern noted in the survey: about 71% of U.S. hiring decision-makers say it is impossible for them to offer all the benefits that employees want now – a sentiment that has held steady since 2021 (69% both in the first and second half of 2021).

Additional topics include the role of a company’s culture in recruiting, and retention and labor market predictions.

The survey was conducted online within the U.S. between May 3 and May 23, 2022, among 1,003 U.S. hiring decision-makers.

It’s Still a Long Climb for Women at the Top

“Despite gains made in gender diversity overall, the distribution of women remains uneven across types of leadership roles; most of the women have been relegated to support functions,” according to research published in MIT’s Sloan Management Review.

The study analyzed 4,000 Fortune 100 executives’ career histories and demographics from the past 40 years, focusing on the 10 highest-ranking roles in each company. The full article (“Women Are Stalling Out on the Way to the Top”) is available here. A couple of stats to get you started.

• Despite accounting for 47% of the U.S. labor force, women held just 27% of the Fortune 100’s top leadership positions in 2021. (A huge advance since 1981, but still far from equal).
• The distribution of women is uneven across types of roles, something that hasn’t changed much in 20 years. Among all leadership positions held by women in 2021, just 6% were in the highest tier (CEOs, presidents, and COOs), hardly any change from 5% in 2011 and 7% in 2001.

5 Tips for Strengthening Your Seasonal Recruiting

Summer’s gone, it’s back to school, and Halloween decorations are turning retail locations orange and black across the U.S. Soon it will be Thanksgiving, quickly followed by the end-of-year holidays. Are you all hired up for the coming months? Here are 5 tips from Recruiting.com to get a head start. The full article with more detail is available here.

1. Start recruiting early

2. Update your job postings

3. Invest in the right sources

4. Consider tools for managing a talent community

5. Give preference to returning seasonal employees

Are Four-Day Work Weeks a Crazy Idea? Not at This Organization!

A nonprofit’s move to a four-day work week has driven a 20% increase in productivity, according to this article from Allwork.Space. The article features an interview with Global’s co-founder and Managing Director Charlotte Lockhart. The overarching guidance that the nonprofit uses is its 100-80-100 rule: staff receive 100% pay for 80% of their time as long as 100% of productivity is achieved. Following the switch to a 4-day work week, employees reported a 45% increase in work-life balance and a 27% decrease in work-related stress.

“Boomerang Employees” Net Significant Pay Raises Upon Return

Between January and April 2022, the average boomerang employee scored a 28% pay raise when returning to an old employer, compared with their pay at the time of resignation, according to Visier data of 3 million employee records at 129 global companies. The typical boomerang worker made their return 13 months after leaving. This, according to an article on CNBC. Are any of your former employees coming back? How much more are you paying them? Is it worth it? Learn more here.