From shallow candidate pools to sky-high turnover, HR professionals have faced intimidating challenges when it comes to hiring this year. To help overcome these hurdles, HR budgets are expected to rise significantly next year. HR professionals in the US estimate that their budgets will grow by 6.9% in 2022. It's necessary to help their organizations meet their hiring demand. This is a new trend compared to years prior. Previously, we saw HR budgets remaining stagnant from one year to the next.
How organizations are going to use this increased HR budget varies a bit from one industry to another, but the 2021 Hiring Benchmark Report highlights some common trends. For example, 59% of organizations are planning to invest in finding high quality job candidates, an increase of 49% from 2020. And it’s not just the quality of applicants that has suffered – getting any applicants at all has proved challenging. That’s why 53% of the HR professionals we surveyed said they were going to increase spending to get enough applicants into their candidate pipelines, up a whopping 71% from last year.
But this boosted budget is being used for more than just hiring measures. Organizations are also looking to invest in their current employees as well. 50% of organizations are optimizing their employee training programs, 41% are planning to cultivate a more positive work environment, and 39% are looking to reduce their turnover.
One other area that money is expected to go? Wage growth. As the competition for talent stiffens, higher salaries are key to attracting talent, especially during the Great Resignation. 52% of HR professionals are anticipating increased compensation packages for the year ahead.
These increased budgets should help HR professionals navigate the choppy waters of the 2022 labor market and set organizations up for hiring success in the long-term.
To better understand the coming hiring trends of 2022, grab your copy of the 2021 Hiring Benchmark Report today.
