What IT and recruitment trends do you need to watch out for in 2023?

2022 looks set to be an important year for IT and recruitment, following the dynamic shifts in both industries in the past 2 years.

In a previous blog, we looked ahead to the future of IT departments, but what technological and recruitment trends are likely to develop this year that could impact employees and employers in IT and Recruitment? Here’s what we think.

IT Trends for 2022

In his article on LinkedIn, R. Erdem Erkul says in 2021 technology not only developed, but had to adapt. Erkul notes how technology became more oriented to three main themes: resilient delivery, people-oriented, and independence from location.” As a result, we saw an increasing number of technologies, systems, and software targeted towards making remote and hybrid working successful and reliable, such as improvements to cyber security and cloud technologies.

In 2022, both cyber security and cloud technologies look likely to become increasingly important, relevant, and in demand. Organisations are becoming even more dependent on cloud-based technology, currently dominated by the technology giants AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud (which can cause a bit of a headache when they have technological failures, as AWS did several times in December). itechviral.com also explore how 5G looks to make working operations smoother and faster, blockchain technology looks to make technology safer, AI will simplify our operations, and IoT, which enables devices to link and transfer data with other systems, will allow us to work from different locations. But how will these technological advancements impact the operations of IT departments?

The effect on IT departments

As technologies develop, IT staff may need to retrain to learn emerging software and systems that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. IT departments will also face increasing pressure to update and maintain developing technology and prevent staff and work systems from the rapidly rising number of cyber attacks,

Emerging technologies such as AI and Cyber Security bring with them exciting new roles, such as Cloud Architect and Malware Analyst, creating job opportunities. That is, if companies can source and recruit candidates from an increasingly narrow job market and widening skills gap. And new opportunities are just one recruitment trend we are likely to see in 2022.

Recruitment Trends for 2022

2021 was an unpredictable year for those of us working in recruitment. At the beginning of the year, continuing from 2020, we saw a low volume of vacancies and high number of applications. By the end of the year, this had reversed, and jobs such as retail, hospitality, and transportation saw a high number of unfilled positions, with total vacancies reaching levels never seen before in the UK. 2021 also saw a higher priority for hybrid working, the end of the furlough scheme, and, for many, a return to the office.

This shift to a higher vacancies to candidate ratio, and therefore to an employee-centric recruitment system (as opposed to the traditional employer-centric recruitment system), will have a huge impact on recruitment operations. Candidates now have the opportunity to be more selective in the jobs they apply for, meaning employers should expect a lower volume of applications per role.

There could also be a rise in hiring “passive candidates”, employees at other companies who haven’t (yet) applied for the role but may be interested in what it has to offer. Although this looks to be a successful method for many recruiters, it is likely to be another factor in the need for change in the recruitment sector.

What effect will this have on recruiters?

As good mental health takes more and more importance, employers should consider what values and ethics they have that appeals to the job market and what makes them stand out from other companies, both of which were previously the focus of prospective employees. In a bid to keep employees for longer, some employers are switching their attention and efforts to retention, and advertising jobs with longer notice periods.

Recruiters and employers will also need to be more “creative” in their approach to hiring candidates and explore emerging digital marketing strategies to attract new talent. These digital marketing strategies, as well as remote interviewing, and streamlined application processes, show the increasing importance of technology and recruitment staff working together, and whilst it may be too early to tell what the departments will look like in January 2023, it looks certain that both will evolve and develop rapidly in the next 12 months.

So, you’ve read our thoughts, what are yours? What trends do you see for the year ahead? We’d be really interested to hear from you.