Dive Brief:

• Employee confidence is high, making it crucial that employers prioritize pay and a robust onboarding experience, a March report from recruiting firm Employ Inc. concluded.
• Thirty-five percent of job seekers responding to a survey said it’s easier to find a job this year than last year. And one-third said they’d be comfortable quitting their job without another lined up. Notably, half said they believe they could make more money in the current market by switching jobs; and because 1 in 3 new hires today will leave a job within the first 90 days, “a good employee onboarding experience is critical,” according to the report.
• “In this employee-driven market, recruiters and employers must quickly adapt to the current reality of talent acquisition to remain competitive in today’s labor market,” said Pete Lamson, CEO of Employ Inc., in a statement. “This includes creating workplaces that align with job seekers’ needs, while also leveraging the right systems, tools, skills, and channels to effectively grow their organizations.”

Dive Insight:

Worker expectations have shifted dramatically in recent months, Employ said, pointing to market conditions that have given employees the “upper hand” when it comes to pay, benefits and job opportunities in general. “With millions of available jobs in the U.S. and talent who seek roles that better align with their requirements, workers are making it clear they want more from employers — and they feel empowered to ask for it,” the firm said.

While the latest report concluded that worker confidence is up over last year, 2021 research showed employees already felt quite confident. In January 2021 survey results from Indeed, more than 70% of workers said they were very or moderately confident they could easily find a new job. And in June that year Robert Half survey results showed that a third of employees were on the job hunt.

Studies have pinned recruiting and retention issues on a number of factors — few learning options, a lack of advancement opportunities and, as Employ noted, onboarding and pay.

The quality of an employee’s onboarding can make or break their early employee experience, other research has shown, and many onboarding programs leave much to be desired: The majority of workers responding to a recent Eagle Hill Consulting survey said their onboarding experience fell short on teaching them about company culture and the company’s core values. A strong onboarding program sets up an employer to achieve strong employee engagement, Brad Goldoor, chief employee experience officer and co-founder at Phenom, recently wrote for HR Dive.

Pay has captured even more headlines, with employers announcing competitive rates in a bid to attract applicants. Those efforts appear to be well-placed: In Willis Towers Watson survey results released last week, more than half of workers cited pay and bonuses as a top reason they would leave for a new employer. And it’s not just a dollar-figure that employees seek: worker pressure has employers simultaneously addressing both pay equity and pay compression, too.