Biggest challenges facing Talent Acquisition in 2024

Over the last 30 years, I have spoken with hundreds of Talent Acquisition (TA) professionals from across the globe. TA has never been tougher to navigate than it is today. My years of experience have given me time to reflect and in this article I have summarised where I see the biggest challenges:

Talent Shortage: Let’s start with the big one. There has always been a gap between the skills employers want and the skills that candidates possess. But it seems to be growing. The Open University Business Barometer states that ‘the main impacts of skills shortages are increased pressure on existing employees and their ability to service work’. Areas that need STEM skills are particularly acute, such as engineering, IT, and healthcare. Employers are competing for a smaller pool of qualified candidates, leading to challenges in attracting and retaining top talent. Communicating this to hiring managers looking for ‘pink unicorns’ remains challenging.

Economic Uncertainty: The last five years have been the most volatile I have seen. The constant economic and political shifts have led to rapid changes in hiring needs, making planning and executing long-term talent acquisition difficult. Nobody could have foreseen COVID-19 or the war in Ukraine. The only certainty is more uncertainty.

Recruitment Technology: Staying up to date with technology can be tricky. The number one complaint I hear from talent acquisition professionals is that technology is not delivering the value promised when it was purchased. The reasons for this are too complex to cover in this article thoroughly. However, recruitment technology ecosystems have become ever more intricate, with many technologies having overlapping functionality. Getting them to work in harmony requires the skills of someone who is an equal part Business Analyst, Tech Specialist and Talent Acquisition professional, which is a rare combination. Working with a third-party consultant could be one option, but the downside is that they don’t often stick around to manage the consequences of their actions. I may be biased here, but working with an RPO provider is the better choice.

Artificial Intelligence: While we are on the subject of technology, I want to make a special mention of AI. We all know its impact will likely be on a scale we can barely comprehend. Almost overnight, huge numbers of jobs will become obsolete. While (hopefully) creating a whole range of jobs we may not even currently have names for. I believe that talent acquisition departments that can understand and measure the transferable skills of a candidate and their passion for lifelong learning - rather than a candidate’s previous work history - will be the most successful.

Candidate Experience: Almost everybody agrees that candidate experience is vital in attracting the best people. Yet so many organisations struggle with this. Long application processes and lack of personalised feedback seem to be the biggest complaints. Candidates blame the recruiters. Recruiters blame the volume of candidates. Hiring managers blame everybody. I am being facetious, but you get my point.

Employer Branding: Standing out from your competitors is difficult, particularly if your organisation is in the B2B marketplace. Job comparison sites like Glassdoor and Indeed can also be a mixed blessing. Disgruntled workers are much more likely to share their thoughts than content ones. Maintaining a consistent and positive employer brand across all channels, from social media to job boards to the company website, is challenging but ultimately critical. It isn’t a magic wand fix, but you are fighting an uphill battle without a unified employer brand plan.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Almost every HR and talent acquisition professional will tell you how important this is within their overall TA strategy. A 2020 McKinsey & Company analysis of 1,000 US firms showed companies with more gender diversity within their leadership teams were 25% more likely to have higher profits than their peers who did not. The report also showed companies with the most ethnic and cultural diversity achieved 36% higher profitability than companies with a less diverse C-suite.

And yet, when things get tough, it is almost always the first area of spending to be cut. We have moved on since I started in the industry 30 years ago, but addressing unconscious bias in recruitment processes, from job descriptions to interviewing, remains a significant challenge.

Hybrid Working: Whether you love it or loathe it, it is here to stay. Right now, we are still working through its unintended consequences. From a talent acquisition perspective, evaluating how candidates will fit into a company’s culture is more challenging when hiring remotely, as traditional in-person interactions are limited. Researchers find that intent to leave a job is higher among those who work remotely full-time compared to those who work partially remote. This supports the notion that in-office environments may foster work cultures and relationships that strengthen retention, but only when balanced with the ability to work from home to some degree.

So, do I see talent acquisition becoming easier in 2025? While the challenges facing talent acquisition are real, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Organisations that are open-minded about hiring, investing in tech, and prioritising a great candidate experience are definitely on the right track. By adapting to the changing times and focusing on long-term strategies, talent acquisition professionals can build strong teams and achieve lasting success.

This article was written by Ed Bushnell November 2024