Many of the best practices that have emerged in the past six months, based on research, tackle the crises of the past year head-on. But disruption continues to shape business outlook across the world. The global economic outlook continues to be weak due to the ongoing war and the subsequent disruptions in supply chains across the world.  

According to the Indeed and People Matters Recruitment Outlook 2022, the biggest challenge employers faced over the past year was the increase in candidate withdrawal rates, more popularly known as ‘ghosting’ which haunts more than half of respondents (58%). This phenomenon refers to the sudden decision of the candidate – or, at times, the recruiter – to discontinue the screening process without providing any notice to the other party.

The trend of candidate ghosting can often be taken as the symptom of a larger problem in recruitment – that is, the failure of employers to engage with candidates on a meaningful level to ensure that the candidate will derive value from the process and see the entire evaluation through.

Like the problems of burnout and disengagement in other regions of the world, which have resulted in the mass exodus of workers called ‘The Great Resignation,’ the increase in candidate withdrawal rates for many can be attributed to the lack of alignment between the organisation’s vision and the overall candidate experience.

Other key problems highlighted by employers are the limitation of candidate pools and delays in candidate sourcing. The limitation of candidate pools is fueled by several factors, including the steep demand for the right talent, the absence of a compelling employee value proposition, and investments in the wrong sourcing channels.

Opportunity areas

The bright spot, however, is that these setbacks from the past year are prompting employers to re-examine the candidate journey even more closely. One trend that has become increasingly popular is how more employers are choosing to get to know their candidates on a personal level rather than simply funnelling them through the recruitment process.

Nearly half of our respondents are also investing resources to improve their employer brand and reduce the time-to-hire. The later part of this report highlights some of the key steps being taken by employers to tackle issues in candidate experience and employer brand.

For 2022, one of the other top priorities of India Inc. will be to engage with a greater number of candidates than they did in previous years, hence, the plan to widen their candidate pools (44%). This could mean sourcing talent from a variety of professional backgrounds who not only offer a range of bankable skills but who also share the same growth mindset and commitment to the team that drives an organisation's overall success.

Employers surveyed are also keeping a more open approach to talent attraction: they are diversifying the candidate profiles they are screening while focusing on a ‘high-touch’ recruitment process – one that puts the candidate front and centre. Developing a richer, more diverse candidate pool doesn't just happen by chance. Employers know that it starts at the beginning of the recruitment funnel during candidate sourcing or right as the recruiters pool their prospects.

Ready to enhance your recruitment process? Stay on top of the latest hiring trends. Download Recruitment Outlook 2022.