A look at Q3 hiring trends and what they mean for Q4 and 2024
The employment world is forever evolving to suit the needs of employers and employees. Hiring new talent is more critical than ever as businesses attempt to cultivate specialized skill sets and fill gaps in their workforce. It’s tough out there for candidates and employers alike, so learning as much as possible from internal data and external resources is crucial.
Our team lives and breathes global employment, and we also know that a firm understanding of the current hiring landscape is paramount for success and innovation. Fortunately, the digital era and the wealth of data available offer a clear and actionable view of our recruitment practices.
Join us for an in-depth look at our Q3 2023 hiring trends and what they could mean for employment in the remainder of 2023 and beyond.
Hiring fewer leaders or creating more?
Workplace leaders are a driving force within a company. They motivate others while offering wisdom and tools for success. No pressure, right? But seriously, great leaders increase your chances of achieving greatness — so why have executive leadership hires been down in Q3?
We’re amid a global talent crunch; businesses are looking to fill skill gaps and struggling. There are plenty of warm bodies but a distinct lack of specialized skills. With this in mind, hiring new talent with the skills you need is increasingly difficult. So businesses are creating talent by moving employees up and around, not out. For senior employees such as managers, this opens the door to transition into senior leadership roles.
Our data shows that out of almost 800 hires in Q3, only 22 were for leadership roles, just over 2%. This supports a trend we’ve seen across all industries. Employees who are leadership material are given the chance to lead, creating skill-based gaps to be filled by colleagues and new hires.
TAKEAWAY: Leaders don’t have to be new hires. You can find gems within your organization. Those with skills, experience, and leadership traits that can drive your company and its workers.
Tech and management are crucial hires
Every industry has unique hiring requirements, gaps to fill, and areas of expertise to pursue. However, we’re in a digital world where technology and data are vital to success. Our Q3 hiring trends show the front-runner departments for new hires being engineering, product and data, and management. Each department accounts for around 25% and 50% combined.
The unwavering demand for tech specialists
Our Q3 Hiring data tells us that, of the 800 new hires we helped facilitate, over 30% were tech-based roles. The influx of technology hires, such as software engineers, product developers, and data specialists, shows a strong commitment to innovation and continued evolution.
To succeed in today’s markets, you not only need the best technology but the most skilled professionals to develop and implement it. From development to performance analysis and forecasting, the use of technology offers an end-to-end solution for enhanced understanding and growth. But the key? Finding and hiring the right people.
The software job market as a whole has grown, and tech skills are a top priority for modern employers. There are around 27 million software developers globally, which is expected to increase to 28.7 million in 2024. A big part of this is the widespread adoption of AI and automation, revolutionizing how we work. And companies need people who understand and utilize it to great effect.
TAKEAWAY: Tech skills are in high demand, a trend that shows no signs of slowing anytime soon… or never. Also, AI and automation are key skills for specialists to adopt if they hope to broaden their employment opportunities.
Growing workforces require more investment in managers
An influx of managers is also vital for accommodating expansion. If more employees are coming in, you need capable people to manage them effectively. Failing to do so leads to overworked leaders and workers and an inability to catalyze or sustain the evolution of your product, workforce, and business.
In Q3 2023, hiring managers accounted for 24.14% of how we helped companies recruit. You may ask yourself, “Why do companies need so many managers?” Well, that’s because when you have a large, diverse workforce specializing in many areas and working in many time zones, the one-size-fits-all approach just doesn’t work. Managers must understand their teams and have the skills to enhance productivity, efficiency, and engagement.
TAKEAWAY: As more businesses increase their talent acquisition efforts and find skilled workers, they’ll also require skilled and experienced managers to lead teams of experts.
Global employment reigns supreme
Okay, we may be a teeny-tiny bit biased, but global employment is the future of work. Seriously, all you have to do is glance at some data, and patterns emerge. Our Q3 data shows a vast discrepancy between employee location and their company HQ. It’s incredibly refreshing, showing that borders are no longer a restriction and careers aren’t defined by geography.
Sure, there may be HQs in multiple regions, but the people hanging out by the water cooler (well, chatting on Slack) are from the US, UK, Spain, Malaysia, India, Canada, the Philippines, and many other countries.
The value modern businesses gain from distributed workforces is priceless, and it clearly demonstrates why platforms such as Multiplier are crucial for the future of work. Success or failure shouldn’t be dictated by the quality of your domestic talent pool, nor should candidates have to leave their loved ones to find good jobs.
TAKEAWAY: Global employment offers the solution for businesses to diversify and bolster their workforce. Establishing workforces that are defined by skills and talent, not geography.
APAC is a global employment powerhouse
The World Economic Forum report shows that 59% of companies think new technology is the key to job growth. The same report predicts that AI, data analytics, machine learning, and data science will be the leading skills in transforming the APAC job market.
This shows the region has skilled workers and fierce motivation to adopt new technologies and abilities. Again, this is reflected in our Q3 hiring. Engineering, product, and data teams have seen more APAC growth than any other region.
Some may assume hiring a large number of APAC workers is a cost-saving exercise. Nope, it’s about finding the best and most skilled people, regardless of their location. Skills are skills; candidates have them, or they don’t. If you paid a dog twice your annual salary, does it make it more skilled than you? Precisely.
Multiplier is helping companies build strong foundations of skilled workers in APAC countries and other regions. This isn’t just a core recruitment strategy — it reflects the sheer diversity within the job market. For 2024 and beyond, expect more businesses to adopt this point of view and make significant changes to how they hire, who they hire, and the skills they prioritize.
TAKEAWAY: Be bold, curious, and picky with your talent acquisition. You have the entire planet as a talent pool, from APAC and EMEA and beyond — people all over the world are developing new skills for the future of work. So happy hunting!
Championing diversity, equity, and inclusion
To say Multiplier enables diversity within the workforce would be a massive understatement. We champion it and believe diversity enhances today’s working world. The benefits of global employment are vast, but too few recognize the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
It’s not a box-ticking tactic. It enables employers to create diverse, multicultural workforces with a range of life experiences and professional skills. Creating a melting pot of cultures, talents, perspectives, and ideas helps to fuel increased productivity and engagement while reducing employee turnover.
A report by Gallup shows that employees are four times more likely to feel a strong connection to their workplace culture if DEI recognition is a priority. Similarly, employees are 20 times more likely to be engaged at work if there is positive recognition.
At Multiplier, we realized that you can naturally develop diverse workforces when searching the entire world for the best talent. With an open mind and a platform that allows you to hire across borders with ease and without headaches, the world is your oyster. Our contract distribution shows that we help businesses hire professionals from here, there, and everywhere — and none of it would be possible without reliable and efficient workforce management solutions.
So many countries with experts in every area of a company. From product development to marketing to senior leadership, we can help you build a unified, collaborative, and productive workforce.
A worldwide distributed workforce is the key to our own success, and in the near future, it’ll be the new norm for businesses looking to acquire new talent and expand into new markets. For modern companies, success won’t be in spite of global hiring. It’ll be because of it.
TAKEAWAY: Diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t just buzzwords or box-ticking. Hiring globally provides an incredible variety of skills, personalities, ideas, cultures, and more. It’s not only valuable for your business reputation but also enhances employee engagement and productivity.
We have something cookin’ for employers and HR leaders
At Multiplier, we gather and analyze a ton of internal data while ensuring our experts explore external resources such as reports and surveys. So, it’s safe to say we have a good grasp of what’s going on in global employment. Rather than be greedy with our data insights, we thought it would be more fun and helpful to produce a trend report based on our findings.
So that’s exactly what we did. We dove down the rabbit hole of HR trends and created a ten-point predictions report for HR leaders in 2024, backed by reliable data and solidified by industry leader insights.
In the report, you’ll find the latest predictions for business and HR leaders in 2024 — such as artificial intelligence, diversity and inclusion, returning to the office, and skill-based talent acquisition. The working world is on the cusp of significant changes, so it pays to be in the know.
Watch this space.
Enhance your business with the best global talent
Multiplier is here to help businesses find skilled workers while providing the tools and insights needed to scale a global workforce. Hiring global talent helps to improve productivity, efficiency, engagement, and much more — does that sound like something you’d be interested in? Talk to our experts today.
