Welcome to “The Most Interesting Recruiting Stories of the Week,” a weekly post that features talent acquisition insights and information from around the web to kick off your weekend. Here’s what’s of interest this week:
Inside the Battle for the Future of Amazon
“After the largest corporate layoffs in its history, the tech giant is at a crossroads,” Vox reports. “As Amazon faces one of the most crucial crossroads in its nearly 29-year history, it’s dogged by a pressing question: Are the recent layoffs and cost cuts simply the sign of a company entering a new, unavoidable phase of maturity, or are they a warning flare that Amazon has plateaued and will soon start experiencing an eventual and irreversible decline?”
Walmart Raises Hourly Pay to More Than $17.50
“That’s about 50 cents higher than the current average hourly wage at the country’s largest grocery retailer,” according to Winsight Grocery Business. “The raises will be reflected on March 2 paychecks.”
Google Recruiter Learned Job Lost After Candidate Call Disconnected
“A Google recruiter said he learned he’d lost his job after a call with one of his candidates disconnected,” Business Insider reports. “Dan Lanigan-Ryan said he was gradually locked out of company systems “and then that was it. Laid-off Google staff have criticized the abrupt and impersonal manner in which they were terminated.”
Labor Shortages Forecast to Persist for Years
“Economists are predicting a slowdown in labor market activity in the U.S. in 2023 due to a likely recession, a continued battle with inflation, more layoffs and higher unemployment,” according to SHRM. “But data shows the far greater concern lies in something that’s not so changeable: demographics.” And still speaking of a lack of labor…
America’s Greatest Threat Is Lack of Labor
“Businesses, big and small are desperate currently for workers. Low-skill, semi-skilled, people who have no skill but are willing to be trained,” Tim Sackett writes. “The hourly rate is anywhere between $12-22/hr. I’ve spoken to companies in every market and industry, many of whom will tell me they’ll hire as many people as they can find, they just can’t find anyone!”
Don’t Scare Off Potential Hires With a Frustrating Application Process
HR leaders from TELUS International, Liberty Mutual, Workhuman share tips for improving the hiring strategy in this article from Human Resources Director.
Tech Layoffs Should Make Tech Recruiting Easier. So Why Isn’t It?
“[M]any people who used to work in tech are now (presumably) on the job market,” Suzanne Lucas writes on ERE.net. “How does that affect recruiting? Is there a smorgasbord of new talent that employers can snap up quickly, or is finding the right candidates still as hard as ever?”
Read the most interesting recruiting stories of past weeks here.