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As we start a new year, let’s look at the big trends that Employee Matters believes will affect your ability to recruit in 2025, especially as a small to medium sized organisation in Australia.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI will continue to make inroads in all aspects of business and recruitment is no exception. Expect it to have effects both for:

• Hiring organisations - Even for those of us without the resources of a large corporation will see creating ads and position descriptions become much easier and for those with the resources, ever more sophisticated resume screening systems will come to the fore
• Candidates - Resume and cover letter writing will become easier, as will company research. It will be interesting to see the impact for hiring managers and their ability to screen candidates based on AI generated material. For example, will all resumes begin to appear very similar and make screening more difficult?

Book a Discovery Session to talk to Employee Matters about your recruitment plans for 2025 and let our recruitment specialists help with your headcount forecasting, and how best to attract, assess and engage with great candidates.

2. Skills

While the recruitment market was incredibly tight for hiring organisations post-COVID, it did ease over the last 12-18 months due to increased migration and a generally difficult economy.

However, while we have seen much greater candidate numbers per role in 2024, the availability of candidates with the right skills has not changed greatly with 75% of hiring managers globally still reporting difficulty in filling roles.

This is a double whammy for hiring managers who must spend more time searching through candidates to find quality talent that is in short supply.

3. Flexibility

The hybrid working debate still rages on, with some organisations mandating full return to the office. In a market still suffering from skills shortages we see such mandates continuing to hurt employment brands and reduce an already depleted skills pool.

We suggest you think carefully around your options for flexible working and how that will affect both the engagement of your current people and your ability to attract new candidates. Click here to watch a video of our Managing Director, Natasha Hawker, talking to this point on Sunrise in early January 2025.

4. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

We have seen a high-profile shift away from DEI initiatives post the election of Donald Trump in the US, with large corporations such as Meta (Facebook) dismantling / scaling back their DEI programs. As with hybrid working, we would advise caution to Australian organisations about following the lead of the USA in this regard.

First, the US is a more polarised community and the effects through the entire business community in the US are still not known. 

Second, Australia is not the USA. Culturally, we are often aligned but often with a different values set. 2025 will prove interesting but as with some of the other trends of recent years in the USA (remember the Great Resignation?) they do not always travel across the Pacific to Australia.

5. Importance of your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

While by no means a new trend, having a great EVP will still be of primary importance in 2025.

As discussed in relation to hybrid working and DEI above, the importance of attracting the best talent your organisation can afford in a market still affected by skills shortages cannot be underestimated in your 2025 recruitment strategy.

It is even more crucial to identify the skills you need and really understand what will motivate top candidates to work for you rather than at all the other organisations seeking their talent.

Take The Lead on Your Recruitment Needs

So there it is, our pick of the five things to think about when planning your 2025 recruitment strategy. We would love to hear your thoughts on what is impacting your hiring journey.

Get in touch for a complimentary discussion about your recruitment needs and plans for 2025, including how we could assist you hire the best talent for less, develop your EVP, align your Remote Working Policy with your and your employees’ needs, and much more:

• Phone: 02 8021 4206
• Email: info@employeematters.com.au 
• Book a Free Call

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