Skip to Main Content

How are Companies Differentiating Themselves in the Competition for Talent?

Bring in new talent and hold onto the talent you have by increasing salaries and bonuses, as well as investing in upskilling employees and building a more positive workplace culture.

Reading Time 

min

Posted On APR 07, 2022 

In late 2021, we polled over 1,400 hiring decision makers nationwide on how they are adjusting their hiring, workforce size, and compensation plans for 2022.

 

Throughout the course of our research, we found that a clear gap still exists between the talent that companies want and need, and their ability to find it. According to the hiring decision makers who responded to our survey, IT/technology workers are most essential to the health of an organization (19%), and they also represent the function most hiring decision makers expect to expand in the coming year (53%). However, those same IT/technology workers are also the most difficult to recruit for (39%), and 40% of respondents say that technical skills have been increasingly difficult to find in potential candidates since the pandemic began.

 

Despite that talent gap, 79% of respondents are confident in their organization’s ability to attract new talent and retain current talent over the next year. What makes them so sure? According to the hiring decision makers we surveyed, their strategies for bringing in new talent and holding onto the talent they have include increasing salaries and bonuses, as well as investing in upskilling employees and building a more positive workplace culture.

 

More than two thirds of the hiring decision makers we surveyed are banking on the power of the almighty dollar to retain their top talent.

 

  • 69% say their company will offer bonuses this year, up from 60.9% in 2020

  • 66% say they believe the bonuses will be higher than in 2020

  • 37% anticipate salaries will be greater post-pandemic as compared to the salaries of employees hired pre-pandemic for the same position and with the same qualifications

  • 40% say their organization has increased sign-on bonuses since the pandemic (up from only 24.8% in 2020)

 

What are organizations planning to do in addition to increasing salaries and bonuses to attract and retain top talent?

 

  • 49.5% of respondents say they have increased, or plan to increase, their investment in a good workplace culture

  • 49.2% will increase upskilling/training opportunities

  • 46% will expand flexible/remote working options

     

Employers need to think about compensation wholistically and provide both new hires and current employees with the compensation, culture, skills, and flexibility they’re looking for. Want more insights on what it takes to attract and retain top talent? Download our 2022 Salary Guide now >