2024 Recruitment Trends To Be Aware Of

There is no doubt that the recruitment trends we can expect to see in 2024 have developed, at least in part, due to the economic downturn of 2023. Last year saw the biggest slump in investments in IT since the 2008 financial crisis. However, despite macroeconomic factors causing challenges, we are still seeing skills shortages in key IT sectors, such as data and BI, development, cloud, and cyber security.

2024 recruitment trends will reflect how businesses are adapting to these economic challenges. Many businesses continue to operate with high expectations for talent, that only continue to grow, meaning that talent acquisition teams, HR departments and recruitment agencies like VIQU must rise to the challenge of securing great professionals for organisations who want to stay ahead of the curve in 2024.

2024 recruitment trends to be aware of:

The rise in headhunting

From VIQU’s own CRM, we know that the number of active candidates applying for work rose by over 45% between November 2022 and November 2023. With companies following through on large-scale redundancies of tech professionals, there is an increase of candidates in the market. Sounds perfect, right?

Well, no. While there is an increase in candidate availability, there is no guarantee they will be the best option. So, I expect lazy transactional recruiters will simply generate applicants through role advertising in 2024, failing to take a productive approach through market mapping and the headhunting of inactive candidates.

With the threat of economic uncertainty, many excellent IT professionals will be hanging on to their jobs this year and not wanting to risk moving around. But a great recruiter in 2024 will find the best candidates through headhunting and market mapping, using their experience and market knowledge to successfully secure and onboard inactive candidates.

Fewer internal recruitment teams

In my conversations with businesses and VIQU’s recruitment team, I’m hearing time and time again that many organisations are reducing their internal recruitment and talent acquisition teams.

Does this mean that companies are no longer recruiting? The short answer is no. In fact, we’ve once again seen evidence of growing job opportunities for tech professionals. As the market stabilises, 50% of tech managers will look to increase their headcount in 2024.

Some companies will be cautious of the expense involved in hiring and maintaining internal talent teams, meaning they may prefer the use of recruitment agencies to bridge the gap. Additionally, this could also correspond with the rise in popularity of MSP and RPO providers that we’ve seen in the past few years. These scenarios allow businesses to have the potential to up or downscale their recruitment needs without having to grow or cut their internal talent team. During economic uncertainty, flexible options like these can really come into their own and prove their use.

Voice to market

As companies continue to compete for IT professionals with niche skillsets in 2024, an effective voice to market will be an important recruitment trend. Successful agencies will become an organisation’s recruitment public relations department. What the agency says (or doesn’t say!) will leave a lasting impression on each candidate. More so than ever, businesses are rightly being particular about how their recruitment agency partners are promoting them as an employer of choice. This might include collateral shared, EVPs and candidate experience.

Whilst there has been a rise in candidate availability in the last year, organisations who take a step back in their recruitment will find it difficult to secure great candidates for their roles.

An attractive and well-communicated employer brand will always be crucial when hiring the right professionals. This is where recruitment agencies can work with organisations to improve their procedures and help promote their company mission, vision and values.

AI and Machine Learning

AI is unstoppable. In the past few years, it has become a greater part of our everyday lives. As such, it is unsurprising that AI and Machine Learning is one of the leading recruitment trends for 2024.

AI has the potential to be an indispensable tool, empowering recruiters and organisations. It can aid a number of processes in recruitment, such as in candidate screening, automating administrative jobs, talent and personality assessment and more. AI can also help to complement a recruitment process through limiting human bias, as agreed by 68% of recruiters in a recent survey.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

In 2024, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) will be a non-negotiable pillar for growth. Many organisations already have DEI directives and require diverse recruitment approaches from the recruitment agencies they use, and this year we will see this continue.

Actively seeking candidates with diverse perspectives and investing in training to foster inclusive workplaces, will be a constant priority for modern organisations. Whilst diversity is not a “recruitment trend” that comes up one year and leaves the next, DEI initiatives have continued to take centre stage and will remain as a top priority with further investment in 2024.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives

There is a significant expectation on recruitment agencies to ensure their values align with the organisations they work with. The three main pillars of ESG frameworks include Environmental, Social and Governance

In particular, we are increasingly being asked by organisations about our green policies, including the goals we have achieved and what we plan to do in the year ahead. As many companies look to bolster their own ESG policies, they expect this to be achieved by their suppliers as well. Organisations not only want a recruiter who can accurately support their voice to market, but one that can also embody their values too.

Likewise, we are seeing many candidates actively questioning potential employer’s green initiatives and efforts. 71% of candidates search for an employer’s sustainability record when looking for a new job. This puts pressure on businesses to ensure that they can prove their claims and look to make sure this is also true of their suppliers too.

Accountability

I expect some recruitment agencies will disagree with this 2024 recruitment trend, however, I believe that more agencies need to take accountability for potential illegal or immoral activity they are witnessing in 2024.

The loan charge scandal shines a light on this issue. At VIQU, we have previously lost contractors who refused to work through a compliant umbrella provider, opting instead for loan-based remuneration schemes, typically run by offshore employee benefits trusts. Whilst this was questionable at the time, as a business we knew it wasn’t right and would eventually come to HMRCs attention. Other recruitment agencies may have accepted these schemes or even promoted them for their gain, but they should have foreseen the issues it would cause.

Currently, in the case of off-payroll working rules (IR35), we see situations where the responsibility is put solely on the end client and the agency involved just accepts whatever off-payroll determination the end client says regardless of whether they think they are following the legislation. Going forward, recruitment agencies need to take shared responsibility if they believe something is going on which may cause liabilities and unwanted attention from HMRC. Ultimately the end client is often the one responsible for the IR35 determination, and while it is theirs alone to make, as the fee payer, agencies have a responsibility to make sure this is applied correctly.

To summarise

As we continue to operate amongst economic uncertainty, there are indications that the IT job market is picking up. Some of the top recruitment trends for 2024 show how expectations on what an agency can offer organisations has risen, from the services and technology they offer, to their own policies around values and sustainability. 2024 will be an interesting year for recruitment, so stay tuned!

VIQU is an award-winning IT recruitment agency. If you are looking to hire an IT professional, consider reaching out to us here to enquire how we can help you.