Looking back on recruitment in 2023

From the continued cost of living crisis to the Barbenheimer phenomenon back in July, 2023 has been a memorable, often surprising year for a lot of people. The year in recruitment is no exception.

2023 saw a number of key trends and shifts, both in the way people work and the way recruiters do business. Many Juice clients have reported a strong year, not just with big account wins and successful placements, but also laying the foundations for what 2024 has to bring.

At Juice, we’ve had a busy year too, packed with new course launches and continued improvements to our platform. So, to finish off, let’s look back together on the biggest recruitment topics in 2023—and what they can tell us about next year.

 

1. 1. A year of cautious candidates

   Now almost four years after the height of the pandemic, the candidate shortage continues to improve. However, while the candidate supply is rising, candidates remain cautious about their decision to take on a new role.

   As a result, we’ve seen our clients prioritise candidate-centric course and skills, from candidate sourcing to interview skills. While we expect the supply to rise further next year, these evergreen skills remain critically important for every recruiter.

   2. An emphasis on business development

   In a challenging economic climate, recruitment businesses have been prioritising business development—not just in terms of new business but also squeezing more Juice from those existing clients.

   Significantly, we saw an increase in the number of clients expecting every recruiter to become business development focused. The Juice platform supports this with a comprehensive range of business development courses, covering topics from lead gen to key account management.

   3. Embracing new recruitment tech

   With pressure on margins and profitability, recruitment businesses spent 2023 exploring new technology to reduce costs and improve efficiency. While every business moves at its own rate, we’re beginning to see people become more aware of AI—and lay the foundations for adopting AI over the next few years.

   While many of the myths about plagiarised CVs and entirely-AI recruiters are overstated, the journey to an AI-supported, if not AI-led, approach to recruitment has started. Whether we see mass adoption in 2024 or a slower, steadier increase, the time to start thinking about and planning for AI is now.

   4. Prioritising wellness and wellbeing

   Finally, it’s been great to see so many recruitment businesses prioritise the wellbeing of their recruiters. Happy employees are productive employees and, the more you can do to embed a healthy culture, the better.

   Hybrid working has positively impacted wellbeing, particularly for those businesses that understand the strengths of the office and how to keep people learning, even if they’re working from home.

   Recruiters have also been supported by wider access to health and wellbeing training, giving them the skills they need to stay healthy and engaged. Juice includes numerous mental health courses, from improving emotional awareness and self-care.

   Learn more about our mental health in recruitment courses