Audeliss brings you the latest insights and trends surrounding executive search and diversity, equity, and inclusion in business across the world every month.
In DEI news, the UK is looking to boost the employment prospects of autistic people through a new Review that will focus on how the British Government can aid companies to recruit and retain people with autism. This Review will work alongside employers, autistic people, and specialist support groups in identifying the current barriers to securing, retaining and advancing people with autism, and it hopes to close the employment gap and grow the economy.
While advances are being made in some aspects of DEI, they’re failing in others. A new report by Robert Walters released on Lesbian Visibility Week found that there is a great pay disparity among LGBTQ+ women. The report, which surveyed over 6,000 employees, showed that more than half of LGBTQ+ women are more likely to live ‘paycheck-to-paycheck’ and are, on average, the group that is the most unsatisfied with their progression, pay, and workplace compared to groups of other sexual orientations. The report also found that they are 10% less likely to be promoted than LGBTQ+ men.
DDI World’s recent report examining how global companies are following through on their DEI commitments found that companies are on the edge of a serious regression on their DEI progress, which is detrimental to business success. In the last two years, there has been a decrease of 18% in leaders’ support for their organizations’ DEI initiatives, and, most shockingly, the number of companies that are not offering DEI programs have increased from 15% in 2020 to 20% this year. This backslide is driving a great number of women and diverse leaders out the door; in fact according to the research women and diverse senior leaders are 64% more likely to leave a business in order to progress as they have lost trust in their company and leadership team.
In executive search news, workers are seeking fully remote roles ahead of the summer, according to Flexa’s Flexible Working Index April 2023. Data shows that the searches for ‘fully remote’ roles rose by 21% between January and March of this year. The search for companies that offer Work From Anywhere (WFA) schemes have also risen from 7% in January to 15% in March, which shows that job seekers are prioritizing summer hours and summer holidays this year.
The latest KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) Report on Jobs survey has seen hiring activity in the UK being dampened by the ever-lasting economic downturn and consequent hesitancy around recruitment. However, it found that candidate availability has risen for the first time in over two years due to recent redundancies and a slight rise in confidence among job seekers.
The sentiment is also present in the U.S. where the April 2023 NABE Business Conditions Survey report signals a risk of recession in the next 12 months. According to the National Association for Business Economics (NABE)’s President Julia Coronado, “The U.S. economy is slowing down as fewer panelists report rising employment and capital spending.” She also reported that there have been declining profits and rising material costs and wages overall, which could result in redundancies.
However hiring trends go, something that looks set to change the game for recruitment and retention is the use of AI. Companies are now investing in artificial intelligence so hiring managers can focus on people and push processes to AIs. We highlighted last month how organizations are ’ghosting’ candidates, and businesses are hoping that by implementing AI, screening candidates and creating a more personable hiring experience for them will help mitigate those issues.