According to a Harris poll, courtesy of Glassdoor, 45% of people say they are currently job searching or plan to search for a job this year. It’s hard to say why that number is so high. It’s possible that as the unemployment rate has rebounded to pre-recession levels people aren’t as content to stick with a job simply because it pays the bills. With demand for skilled labor growing, workers are more confident that they can get more out of their job. For employers this means a few things and they are likely reflected in the trends we’re seeing.

Benefits and perks gain in importance.

While compensation is still the main trigger, people are taking a closer look at things like health benefits, 401(k) programs and profit sharing. If you’re a small to medium size company, you should expect this to be a major theater of war with your competitors. If you’re a large company, it’ll be almost expected that you provide better benefits.

Equal Pay Matters.

Throughout the interview process candidates are going to be concerned about compensation practices and how up-to-date your company’s are. People want equal pay policies, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t oblige them.

Job seekers will do more research.

You can expect applicants to know more about you, including how you look and what your interests are! Yes, they will go on LinkedIn and learn about you. This is a good thing if your company does a good job of using things like social media to bolster its recruiting and human resources efforts.

Transparency.

Like equal pay, this is seen as sort of barometer for how forward-thinking your company is. Anything that seems opaque at your company is a red flag to really smart applicants.

Going mobile.

Yes those millennials everyone seems to be after will only see you if you fit on their phone. The big change here is that smartphone use hasn’t just grown, it’s becoming exclusive and phasing out the platforms in important ways.

It looks to be a big year for job seekers, and employers should pay attention and get their policies up to date to meet the new expectations. The good news is this is something you should be doing anyway. In other words, you shouldn’t have to make a business case for being more transparent, but you may need to investigate ways you can be perceived as being opaque.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.