C-Suite Execs List Their Top Concerns for 2022

Almost half (48%) of C-suite execs list ‘identifying talent acquisition and retention challenges’ as the top concern in 2022.  Next up are ‘supply chain disruptions and vulnerabilities’ (32%), and ‘new COVID-19 variants (29%).  Hiring and retaining talent is a huge driver of growth this year per 77% of execs. ‘Identifying digital transformation initiatives’ and ‘identifying increasing agility to better operate in a turbulent business environment’ were listed next at 60% and 56%, respectively.  Regardless, less than half have a plan of attack at the ready to handle hybrid work options, increase career advancement and upskilling opportunities, and increase employee compensation or improve benefits.

In the January jobs report released today, the U.S. economy added 467,000 jobs, obliterating the 150,000 Wall Street forecast. Leisure and Hospitality made the biggest upward stride, with professional and business services as well as retail showing big gains as well. Wages increased 0.7% for January and 5.7% for the year.

Job applications need to cater to attention spans of a gnat. If it takes a candidate more than 15 minutes to get through your form…you’ve lost them. Around 70% of applicants drop off at the 15-minute mark, per a recent survey. More than 50% of respondents say they expect a response from companies they apply to in 7 days or less. If these candidates receive feedback during the interview process, 60% would apply for jobs there even if they were passed over.

A whopping 93% of recent survey respondents said they’re expecting their headcount to increase in 2022. Around 50% of those roles would be completely new. Filling open roles with the ‘right-fit candidates’ is a concern, as 42% of employers lack the confidence in making that happen. Almost 60% place blame on the skills gap while 43% point to the competitive talent market.

With a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers per the American Trucking Association, employers are testing out different tools to help attract candidates. The list of wants is long, but more time at home, a guarantee to be paid weekly, and better benefits are tops.

Speaking of benefits, Google has increased PTO – 24 weeks of paid leave for birthing parents, 18 weeks for nonbirthing parents, 8 weeks for caregivers of a seriously ill loved one, and a minimum 20 vacation day. Some of these kicked in at the start of the new year, others will go live in April.

Qualified talent versus available talent – the gap between the two continues to grow. The majority of organizations (83%) say they’re dealing with a skills gap and 78% are expecting it to continue. A lack of leadership is a top concern – 65% are in need of more critical-thinking and problem-solving employees. More managerial skills are needed by 55% of organizations and 53% are seeing a lack of communication and interpersonal skills.

Professional development and training opps keep coming up high on worker’s list of wants, but many say their employers just aren’t delivering. Only 39% said their employers had jumped in to support them in this area, while 80% listed it as important when accepting an offer.

The U.S. nonfarm private employment saw the first decline since December of 2020 with a decrease of 301K jobs in January. The largest fall was in the leisure and hospitality sector, losing 154K jobs…after enjoying an increase in Q4 2021. Economists had forecasted that businesses added 207K jobs, so these losses weren’t expected.

Jobs lost/added in January by sector:

• Goods-producing, down 27,000
  • Natural resources/mining, up 4,000
  • Construction, down 10,000
  • Manufacturing, down 21,000
• Service-providing, down 274,000
  • Trade/transportation/utilities, down 62,000
  • Information, down 8,000
  • Financial activities, down 9,000
  • Professional/business services, down 3,000
    • Professional/technical services, up 4,000
    • Management of companies/enterprises, down 2,000
    • Administrative/support services, down 6,000
  • Education/health services, down 15,000
    • Healthcare/social assistance, down 10,000
    • Education, down 5,000
  • Leisure/hospitality, down 154,000
  • Other services, down 23,000

ADP lowered its estimate of jobs added in December to 776,000 from the initially reported 807,000.

Quits began a decline in December with 161K/4.5 million making the move after record highs were seen in November, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The quits rate largely stayed the same at 2.9%, a bit below the 3% in November. Healthcare and social assistance fell the most by 89K followed by accommodation and food services down by 64K and construction, which fell by 44K.  The largest increase in quits was seen by nondurable goods and manufacturing – 19K increase.

A 14-month low was seen in January in manufacturing – growth was evident in January but at a slower pace than December. January’s PMI of 57.6% was the lowest reading since November 2020, pointing to a loss of momentum in economic growth at the beginning of 2022.

Class of 2022 graduates – things are looking up! While salaries are a bit topsy-turvy, the general outlook is a positive one, with salary increases expected. An increase of 5.4% for both math and sciences majors and agriculture and natural resources are expected for the class of 2022 while a decrease of 14.8% may plague humanities majors. Computer science are thought to be the highest-paid group once again, at $75,900, with Engineering grads the second-highest paid at $73,922.

Over half (65%) of U.S. companies expecting to increase their teams this year with permanent positions while 33% say they’ll be filling vacated positions. Administrative and customer support we the areas for most hires at 72%, with marketing following behind at 69%. Almost three-quarters of senior managers, 71% plan to leverage more contractors in 2022, with marketing and technology departments most likely to use contract workers at 78% each.

The top hiring strategies companies are using to attract skilled candidates include:

• 55% are increasing starting salaries.
• 50% are offering remote options and evaluating candidates outside of their office’s geography.
• 44% are providing signing bonuses.
• 41% are giving more paid time off.
• 31% are loosening education, skills or experience requirements.

Until next week,

Erin and Team BountyJobs