Dive Brief:

• For HR managers, the name of the hiring game is flexibility, according to a new CareerBuilder study based on The Harris Poll surveys. Forty percent of employers plan to fill current and future openings with full-time workers, and 47% plan to hire part-time workers going into 2019. Although hiring rates were down from last year's numbers – 44% and 51%, respectively – CareerBuilder said robust hiring is still expected in 2019. The Harris Poll collected responses from 1,021 hiring managers and HR managers and 1,010 full-time U.S. workers across industries.
• The study showed that although full-time workers remain in demand, 50% of HR managers have current openings for which they can't find qualified candidates. However, 32% of workers are looking to change jobs in 2019, citing low pay or a lack of benefits (15%) and poor company culture (10%) as the reasons.
• CareerBuilder said the hiring trends to watch in 2019 are: a greater focus on hiring for soft skills; year-round recruiting by hiring managers to reduce time-to-hire and costs; investment in tech training; and rising compensation. To meet these goals and trends, recruiters will need to focus on job-seeker experience and improved efficiency across a multitude of talent acquisition tasks, according to CareerBuilder.

Dive Insight:

In the CareerBuilder study, it's important to note the percentage of employers planning to hire part-time workers is greater than the percentage of those planning to hire full-time workers in 2019 — and this difference was even greater in 2018. The higher percentages for both years may indicate that employers continue to see part-time workers and independent contractors as essential to increase their agility in the market.

And HR professionals will need to remain agile in 2019. By mixing up hiring strategies to include a broader range of workers, investing in training, improving the candidate experience, hiring year-round and focusing on in-demand skills, HR will be better prepared to meet the challenges of the current talent shortage — something that has become a serious business threat in 2019.

As the study notes, soft skills are very much in demand, especially as employers recognize that they may need to train up workers in more technical skills. According to a LinkedIn report, the skills gap is actually most severe among soft skills. Critical thinking, communication, emotional intelligence, leadership and time management are among the soft skills employers have the most difficulty finding.