The Most Interesting Recruiting Stories of the Week

Welcome to “The Most Interesting Recruiting Stories of the Week,” a weekly post that features talent acquisition insights and information from around the web to kick off your weekend. Here’s what’s of interest this week:

Less Turnover, Smaller Raises: Hot Job Market May Be Losing Its Sizzle

“By many measures, the labor market is still extraordinarily strong even as fears of a recession loom,” says The New York Times. “The unemployment rate, which stood at 3.7 percent in August, remains near a five-decade low. There are twice as many job openings as unemployed workers available to fill them. Layoffs, despite some high-profile announcements in recent weeks, are close to a record low. But there are signs that the red-hot labor market may be coming off its boiling point.”

How Fast Food Violates Child Labor Laws

“[E]ven if a teen is eager to work their hours and earn that extra cash, it’s not that simple on the employer’s end,” according to The Takeout. “Both Chipotle and Dairy Queen recently settled lawsuits in which the chains were found to be in violation of child labor laws. Both instances resulted in hefty fines.”

How Retailers Are Hiring for the Holidays

“Some reports expect that holiday sales growth will slow this year compared to last, with Deloitte estimating growth between 4% and 6% in 2022 compared to an increase of 15.1% during last year’s period,” according to HR Dive, “Meanwhile, Mastercard’s latest estimates expect U.S. growth at 7.1%, but noted that inflation will play a role in consumer expectations for discounts.”

How to Make Sure a Job Offer Is Accepted

“The candidate was just not interested in the role,” begins this Time piece. “The duties seemed lateral, the pay bump nominal, and moving to a new city felt daunting. Then the recruiter mentioned that the supervisor would likely be looking for their replacement soon.”

Meta Implements Hiring Freeze

“With drops in growth and revenue, Meta is responding with a hiring freeze across the company,” The Verge reports. “Zuckerberg previously warned of an ‘intense period’ that could last up to two years.”

Prioritizing Assignments Over Interviews

“Companies over-rely on interviews when hiring, which has been shown to be a poor predictor of future performance and introduces opportunities for bias,” according to Harvard Business Review. “As an alternative, try giving candidates who make it past an initial screening test a small test of the primary skill the job requires. For instance, ask a coder to solve a small coding project. This ‘minimally viable demonstration of competence,’ and a follow-up discussion that debriefs the exercise, can be a powerful tool for moving beyond the resume to find qualified candidates that hiring bots might have passed over.”

General Motors’ Diversity Chief Scraps University Degree Requirements for Some Jobs

“Telva McGruder distinctly recalls what sparked her interest in engineering,” begins this Fortune article. “The year was 1982, and she, a child, was watching a television special about the first permanent artificial heart transplant. The documentary was riveting and shed light on how engineers approached problem-solving. That put her on a path that would ultimately lead her into electrical engineering and a 28-year career at General Motors. Now, as chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at the automaker, she’s tasked with improving representation in the workplace across gender, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. One way to achieve that? Remove university degree requirements for many jobs.”

DOL Rescinds Trump’s Employer-Led Apprenticeships

“The U.S. Department of Labor…announced a final rule to rescind the Trump administration’s industry-recognized apprenticeship model that allowed employers and trade groups to create and oversee their own apprenticeship programs,” SHRM reports. “The DOL will instead direct its resources toward its own regulated system of registered apprenticeships, the department said. The rule goes into effect Nov. 25.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook Cites 4 Traits He Looks for in Employees

From CNBC: “‘It’s been a very good formula for us,’ he said, noting those traits also contribute to an ambitious, yet supportive workplace culture. “’t’s not like somebody goes in a corner or closet and figures out [how to build technology] by themselves.’”

How Much Should — and Shouldn’t — You Engage Hiring Managers?

“There are so many moving pieces that have to align,” says ERE strategy columnist Mary Faulkner about the hiring process. “[The req approval, the posting, the timing of the right person seeing the posting and deciding to apply, the chance of the resume catching the eye of the recruiter, passing the screening, making it to the hiring manager, navigating interviews, making an acceptable offer, and then having that offer accepted… There is a lot of room for error in this process.”

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Stay in Touch

Join the conversation about all things talent acquisition in the ERE Facebook Group. It’s a great venue to gain information, support, and network with fellow peers. We’re talking about some of the stories above, as well as other hot recruiting topics, so come share your own views in the ERE Facebook Group. We’d love to see you there!

Additionally, got questions? Feedback on a story? Or want to pitch a story idea? Get in touch with ERE editor Vadim Liberman at vadim@ere.net.

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