Has the table turned on easy recruitment?
It has been almost a decade since we have heard recruiters saying “you are going to have to pay more if you want to hire.” Recently in America, even at the low end of the wage scale, all types of workers are in demand.
HRM Canada does a wonderful job summarizing what American employers are doing to attract workers to the fast food industries which include:
- Using professional recruiters
- Extra days off
- Paying above minimum wage
- Free meals
- And referral bonus
These are the types of hiring strategies and recruitment incentives that were used for high paying and hard to recruit jobs including high-tech or specialized medicine positions. Not so anymore; the lowly burger flipper now is in demand and can demand more in wages and employment perks.
What is happening? Well, it is all about the unemployment rate, which is at a rate of 4.7% in the USA; near a nine-year low. This means that the U.S. economy is close to full capacity and if employers want to hire an employee they will have to entice that employee to join them over the competition. It is a demand market for workers.
Some HR professionals have never had to experience what it is like to try and recruit in a demand market. Their HR work experience has been limited to 2008 forward when it has been relatively easy to hire workers, especially at the minimum wage level jobs. HR has to be aware that what happens in the U.S. economy usually happens in the Canadian economy. HR should now start thinking about how we keep the employees we have and what the new recruiting strategies are that will be needed in a full capacity economy. It is better to plan now than wait for the hiring crisis to happen.
Discussion Questions
- You work in the HR department for Tim Horton’s in Canada. Research the employment levels currently in Canada. What are they? What is considered full employment in the Canadian context?
- You have been asked to develop recruitment and retention strategies for Tim Horton’s. Prepare a 5 min presentation for you VP of HR.