Gem’s 2020 Recruiting Trends Report is Live

Gem's 2020 Recruiting Trends Report covers struggles, priorities, and predictions for the future of talent acquisition. Know what your peers are thinking.

What does the future hold for recruitment? If 2020 has taught us anything so far, it’s that none of us can predict that—or much of anything, for that matter—for sure. COVID-19 radically transformed the macroeconomic landscape and the talent market within a matter of weeks. For many talent acquisition teams, the pandemic has meant reduced reqs and headcounts, redefined team functions, and downshifts in processes and priorities; for others, it’s meant doubling-down on hiring amidst an influx of inbound applications. The subsequent police killings of yet more Black men and women have led to worldwide protests on a scale we haven’t seen in decades—which means, on top of the economic crisis, companies are having to do some serious reflecting on what diversity, equity, and inclusion look like in their workforces. And it will ultimately be up to recruitment to impact the “D” of their orgs’ DEI initiatives.

‍Gem’s 2020 Recruiting Trends Report is based on a survey of nearly 500 talent acquisition professionals that ran for six weeks starting on April 6, 2020—three weeks after shelter-in-place was announced in the Bay Area. We’d been planning questions for a very different trends report, many of which we preserved because that data is essential for companies whose hiring loads are unimpacted, or have increased. (It’ll also be important for recruiters once their hiring freezes are lifted and those reqs get resurfaced.) But we also included questions about the challenges teams are facing in light of the pandemic. We hope this gives us the most accurate picture we can get of the recruiting landscape right now.We don’t know what talent acquisition is going to look like as the rest of 2020 unfolds. But we can now observe some industry trends, including:

• Where prospect outreach is happening, and what the most valuable channels are for candidate engagement

• How teams are using automation and recruitment technology, and what what KPIs they’re tracking

• How talent acquisition teams are thinking about diversity initiatives, and what their biggest challenges are to diversifying the pipeline

• What’s keeping teams from hitting their hiring goals

• Talent leaders’ highest-priority initiatives and where they plan to use their budget for the remainder of 2020

• The trends that sourcers, recruiters, and TA leaders anticipate for the remainder of 2020

• Talent leaders’ biggest struggles in the face of COVID

The challenges ahead for recruitment may be changing, but the challenges themselves aren’t going anywhere. And while we can’t predict the future, we can offer a bird’s-eye view of top priorities, action plans, and collective concerns that might help you better understand the landscape we’re still adjusting to, assess your company’s place in that landscape, and anticipate what may lie ahead. It’s as important as ever to keep a pulse on the industry right now. So take a look at these 2020 Recruiting Trends, and find out what your peers are thinking about—and what they’re up to.