Hiring is a dynamic part of corporate operations, and 2013's trends likely won't extend into 2014. As the economy wavers between stagnation and recovery, some companies are gradually increasing staffing so they can achieve new corporate objectives.
Because HR departments play critical roles in hiring, recruiting and workforce management, they must stay informed of emerging employment trends. Monitoring external forces and other enterprises' hiring plans can help HR departments determine what strategies they should implement. The following is a look some of the key hiring trends for 2014.
Projects and freelancers
According to the Future of Talent Institute, many companies will start hiring on a project-by-project basis and look for specific skills. Essentially, the news source expects businesses to only look for talented contributors who can only assist in achieving specific objectives. For instance, if an enterprise wanted to build its own internal cloud storage infrastructure, it would hire a group of IT experts just to handle that project.
Further, the news source notes that many workers won't be brought on as full-time employees. Instead, they'll be asked to take work as it becomes available, basically working as freelancers.
This may be the most budget-friendly approach that enterprises could take in 2014. For one, it ensures that companies aren't adding long-term employees to their payroll. Additionally, if workers' hours are kept limited, they'll have very little impact on the business' full-time equivalent count, which affects its compliance with the Affordable Care Act.
Gaining momentum
The Conference Board recently reported that its Employment Trends Index increased to 112.16 in July 2013, which is a 4.1 percent increase over the result from July 2012. Gad Levanon, the Conference Board's director of macroeconomic research, stated that this bolds well for hiring in 2014.
"With economic activity remaining weak through the second quarter, solid employment growth continues to be a positive surprise. Jobs may grow faster in the coming quarters as the U.S. economy is
likely to get stronger towards the end of 2014," Levanon said.
If employment keeps trending upward, it likely indicates that companies feel that they are back on stable fiscal footing and have the capital to add new contributors to their staffs. For HR departments, this means that they'll have to bolster their recruiting efforts in order to attract top talent. What's more, HR departments will likely have to restructure their retention plans in order to avoid losing key employees.