In this episode of Recruiting Trailblazers, host Marcus Edwardes welcomes back expert labor economist, Andrew Flowers from APPCAST. The discussion circles around critical trends shaping the world of recruitment and labor markets for the upcoming year, 2024.

The pair embarked on the conversation by touching on the imminent hiring slowdown in 2024, with a special focus on standing up positions vs sitting down positions. They delved into how the hiring demand for knowledge workers or the laptop class would cool off, while demand for direct care providing or production workers, the standing up roles, would heat up significantly.

Next, Andrew throws light on an unexpected increase in job seeker activity, supported by the massive transition of women and immigrant demographics into the labor force. They discussed how the strong U.S. economy acted as a magnet for global immigrants, which boosted the number of job seekers.

Following this, they explored the changes in commercial real estate entwined with work-from-home policies, viewing it as a reckoning period for corporate real estate. With a substantial shift towards remote work and a decrease in office space utilization, Andrew sees corporations grappling with strategic decisions related to maintaining office space and personnel policies.

Finally, they delved into how AI could become a staple in recruiters’ day-to-day workflows. Andrew anticipates an increased adoption of AI tools like chat GPT by recruiters to perform mundane tasks, leaving them to focus on judgments and decisions that require a human touch.

1. Market Demands: Understanding market needs and demands will contribute significantly to recruiting strategies.
2. Flexible WFH policies: Companies that provide options for remote work have an advantage in recruiting talent.
3. AI Augmentation: Utilizing AI to augment recruiters’ work can make processes more efficient and scalable.