August 21st, 2023 | Sterling

How Is Hiring Changing? New Industrials Research Report

To view the full report, click here.

The industrials sector has undergone significant changes over the past few years, impacting how businesses hire top talent. With the steady rise of remote and contract roles, and the after-effects of pandemic-driven disruption, workers across manufacturing, transportation, and construction have been re-evaluating how, where, and when they want to work. HR professionals now face strong competition in their search for both entry-level and skilled candidates and the longer those roles remain unfilled, the harder it is for organizations to achieve their strategic goals.

Sterling’s latest industrials research report uncovers valuable insights related to hiring and background screening from HR professionals and job seekers, helping guide businesses towards best practices as they refine their hiring processes. Below are a few highlights that we’ve uncovered from over 280 HR professionals and 1,000 recent job seekers.

HR Teams Are Struggling to Find Skilled Workers

Even though there’s an increasing demand for skilled workers, we found that roughly 50% of HR professionals are struggling with finding qualified candidates to fill highly regulated and safety-sensitive roles, while 30% are competing with direct competitors for top talent. Many factors have contributed to this growing shortage, including Baby Boomers retiring early, elimination of shop classes from schools, and younger generations – specifically Millennials and Gen Z – having a more negative view of skilled labor.

Another challenge HR professionals face is keeping up with evolving regulations and practices. In today’s competitive and complex hiring environment, it’s more important than ever for HR professionals to adapt their hiring practices and screening processes to align with evolving regulations.

Job Seekers Want a Simpler Hiring Experience

The hiring process is a shared experience between hiring managers, HR professionals, and their candidates. That’s why it’s important for employers to really understand the perspectives of job seekers.

We found that most job seekers considered dropping out (or actually dropped out) of the hiring process due to its complexity and length. This unfortunate result is indicative of a challenging or time-consuming candidate experience. HR professionals and hiring managers can’t overlook how important it is to provide a simple, efficient, and engaging hiring process for their candidates.

In our report, we dive into other main reasons why job candidates are dropping out of the hiring process. We also gave candidates the opportunity to share, in their own words, what they wish HR professionals understood about the candidate experience.

HR Teams Are Investing in Their Background Screening Program

It may be tempting to think of background screening as just another set of tasks to complete in the hiring process. However, background searches help ensure that organizations are meeting the requirements for highly regulated sectors and safety roles.

HR professionals are looking to add more services, specifically identity verification, to make their background screening more thorough. This industrials research report takes a deeper look at other changes HR professionals are making with their background screening program, including how they are screening different types of workers and candidates. We also look at the main reasons why HR professionals are increasingly turning to technology and automation to improve the background screening experience.

Moving Forward With Your Hiring Process

The insights in our report show that HR professionals are taking a realistic view of what they can accomplish in the near term, and an opportunistic view of how the hiring process can evolve going forward. Discover all these actionable insights and learn more about how you can start reimagining the hiring process.

Download the full benchmark report:

Sterling is not a law firm. This publication is for informational purposes only and nothing contained in it should be construed as legal advice. We expressly disclaim any warranty or responsibility for damages arising out this information. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel regarding your specific needs. We do not undertake any duty to update previously posted materials.