Across our recruiting business lines of Finance & Accounting, Technology, and Human Resources, Conexus made 412 placements in 2022 and 319 Year-to-date as of September 2023. This volume of activity provides us with a front-row seat to the rapidly evolving trends in the Southern California labor market.
While trying to maximize productivity and create a culture that attracts and retains valuable employees, the number one hiring dilemma our clients continue to grapple with is their work model as it pertains to where their employees will perform their work. Everyone continues to ask (debate), “Should we be fully onsite, remote, or institute a hybrid model?” The answer to that question can cause one of two things: harmony or attrition. There is very little in between.
The Zoom and Teams technology that emerged as a lifeline to businesses during the Pandemic have become a mainstay, driving a major wedge between the office culture of old and the office culture of the present. The genie was let out of the bottle, and it doesn’t seem we’ll be able to put her back in anytime soon, if ever.
Trends are changing rapidly and we’re seeing signs of what the future likely holds for employers most successful in attracting and retaining employees. In 2022, 58% of our interim placements and 36% of our direct hire placements were fully remote. In 2023, those numbers have shrunk to 12% for interim placements and 7% for direct hire. The hybrid format (fewer than five days required in office) rose rapidly from 51% of our placements in 2022 to 81% year to date in 2023. This year, only 7% of our interim placements and 11% of our direct hire placements have required people to be onsite, in the office, every day to perform their work.
The idea of bringing people into the office every day is understandable. Many executives and business owners remain convinced that having employees in the office as often as possible maximizes productivity, but this concept is outdated. At the same time, companies are finding that recent hires and employees early in their careers are the ones who struggle the most with fully remote work. As a result, it’s no surprise that the vast majority of companies are experimenting with the hybrid model and are figuring out what format results in the strongest blend of productivity, a strong culture, and employee retention.
For every role we fill, interim or direct hire, we speak to anywhere from 20 to 100 prospective candidates about the opportunity, amounting to many thousands of conversations over the course of a year. In 2023, more than 90% of the time, prospective candidates and consultants state that they will not entertain any opportunity that requires being in the office five days per week.
Make no mistake, if you require your people to be onsite every day, you are severely limiting your pool of prospective hires that are interested in working for your company. More importantly, your current employees have a high risk of being poached by someone offering them a more flexible work schedule.
Many CEOs, CFOs, and HR Executives continue to grapple with this topic. This riddle will continue to be an issue as long as the hiring market remains strong. For Accounting/ Finance, IT, and HR Professionals, unemployment remains extremely low and there are no signs of widespread, significant reductions in workforce, so solving this riddle will continue to be of the utmost importance for companies to thrive.
