Many Financial and Professional services businesses are currently undergoing a recruitment drive following growth during the first half of 2021. Though all appears well in the sector, one key element is throwing a spanner in the works. They’re struggling to attract talent.

Candidate driven

There was a brief period last year where the market switched from being candidate to client driven as a wave of redundancies and layoffs increased the volume of talent in the market. But like a flash, the market is now back to being candidate driven and with more and more companies entering a recruitment drive each day, the availability of talent in the market is quickly becoming outweighed by the volume of jobs - great news if you’re a job seeker, but a challenging environment for prospective employers.

Sector specific

One of the aspects which can make recruitment more challenging in this highly candidate driven market is being too narrow with who you’re searching for.  When briefed on new roles most clients within financial and professional services are looking for candidates with sector specific experience.

We understand that hiring someone with a pre-developed knowledge of the sector can make on-boarding easier, but during a period where there is low candidate supply, this can weaken the quantity of available talent making the recruitment process more difficult.

Multiple processes

Because they’re so in demand, a candidate who you might find extremely appealing is more than likely interviewing at one, two or even three+ other companies. It’s nothing personal, they’re just looking for the best options available to them.

This leaves some companies open to losing out on great talent to competitors. Some of the reasons for a candidate dropping out of the process in recent weeks have ranged from the interview process taking too long, to companies being unsure about the long-term outlook of their flexible working package. Having a streamlined and competitive recruitment package is more important now than ever when it comes to candidate attraction and retention in the recruitment process.

Though the availability of talent is one aspect which can make the recruitment process challenging, over recent weeks I have been advising financial and professional service firms on how they can ensure their recruitment process is more competitive. From planning recruitment drives in advance to offering attractive benefits packages and widening their prospective talent pools.