Today, the entire world has become an employment melting pot. Borders seem to dissolve as organizations seek out talented individuals to drive innovation and efficiency at a scale and speed never before seen.

Yet, workforces are shrinking in more regions than they’re growing, and the rise of the knowledge worker and the free agent has already made finding qualified workers to fill permanent, full-time roles increasingly difficult. Diminishing supply of talent, and the development of technology that can facilitate data sharing and high quality collaboration has led to the emergence of a truly global workforce.

Organizations and HR professionals are tasked with adapting to this diverse landscape, and part of doing so requires a sea change in the way they think about where candidates are, how to connect with them, and what candidates are looking for in terms of employment.

Increasingly, this has required organizations to reconsider how permanent, temporary and contingent labor is purchased
and managed. There is no doubt that the complexity (and the potential for competitive advantage) that workforce strategies now embody is putting RPO providers on more organizations’ radars.

Today’s global workforce represents a complex mixture of shifting demographics and changing expectations and needs. Because of this, the recruitment outlook for the next year will be defined primarily by:

- Ongoing uncertainty on global markets requiring a greater focus on contingent labor and maximizing value from people resources;
- Increasing competition for key, skilled labor in the science, technology, mathematics and engineering fields where growth is strong;
- Greater focus on the efficiency of hiring decisions and the management of talent pipeline.

This post on the latest trends in recruitment are part of the Ebook, 5 Global Trends in Recruitment Outsourcing. You can download a free copy here.