Dive Brief:

• Over half (65%) of CFOs polled in a new Robert Half survey said finding skilled professionals to fill job openings was at least somewhat challenging.
• The study found that CFOs are bypassing traditional recruiting tactics to fill openings by considering entry-level candidates, expanding talent searches beyond local geographic areas, hiring interim professionals and curtailing the recruiting process.
• Robert Half recommends that employers overcome staffing challenges by identifying in-demand skills that workers can learn on the job, playing up their job openings' advantages, offering remote work opportunities, partnering with staffing professionals and asking employees for referrals.

​Dive Insight:

Recruiting and hiring is more challenging when unemployment is reported to be at record lows — currently 4.1% nationwide and hovering around 2% among college graduates, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers who discovered that traditional recruiting strategies weren't working have taken unorthodox hiring measures such as considering non-degree candidates for professional jobs (and developing them in-house).

Basing hiring on skills and training over credentials is a major shift in recruiting. This tactic opens up job opportunities to more candidates and broadens the talent pool, which is essential in a labor shortage. The retail industry, at least during the seasonal hiring period, also increased wages to woo potential workers, and employers are turning to remote and flexible work now more than ever.

Regardless of approach, employers in almost every industry will need to learn how to brand their employee experience and focus on the employee value proposition to retain top talent and remain competitive in a job seeker's market. And experts say that the employers that align their work cultures with their values will likely see the most success.