5 creative ways to think about recruiting talent for your in demand and hard-to-fill roles
While the labor market has changed quite dramatically in the past year or so, certain jobs and skills are still in high demand, which creates hard-to-fill roles. Whether the difficulty comes with recruiting or retention, the fact of the matter is that you have some jobs you need to pay special attention to. With employers continuing to demand more time in the office contrasted with the employees’ continuing call for flexibility and hybrid work, the relationship and expectations between employee and employer continue to be in flux and differentiated.
Keeping abreast of the latest in compensation, total rewards, and employee experience offerings is a necessity nowadays. With the latest data, you’re better able to craft an employee value proposition that allows you to find and keep job-engaged employees.
Current state of the labor market
Most indicators show that the labor market is healthy. Current quit rates are aligned with historical rates in a non-recessionary environment, layoffs remain low, and low unemployment continues.
However, demand for employees continues to outpace supply. There are currently more jobs openings than workers to fill them — the gap is just over half a million employees.
Economic uncertainty continues to cast a shadow on the future with the greatest question being the outcome of the upcoming election.
Organizations can attract more talent, retain current talent, and increase employee satisfaction by building workforce strategies based on the latest insights. Data from current surveys can tell employers what employees are looking for in jobs, development opportunities, rewards, and general company characteristics. Surveys can also provide an organization with insights into the compensation offered by its competitors, so that it doesn’t overpay for unnecessary positions but does offer competitive pay for crucial roles.
What jobs and skills are in demand now?
By mining Mercer’s Skills database, we found that the jobs in high demand in the US include a variety of experienced sales professionals — retail, field and even airline passenger/service sales, experienced registered nurses, custodial/cleaning staff, secretary and administrative staff, light truck delivery drivers, warehouse shipping and receiving, and customer relationship representatives.
When we look at year over year pay movement for same incumbents, as a proxy for which jobs are “hot,” it should be noted that year over year growth has slowed dramatically. There has been a 59% decrease in the number of jobs that even saw over a 5% increase year over year for the same incumbent. That tells us that employers are not adjusting pay much beyond what they deliver during the annual increase process. That holds true based on the findings from our most recent Compensation Planning Survey.
The jobs with incumbents that did receive higher year over year increases were mostly in construction, engineering, and information technology.
Industries with heavy front-line workers continue to deliver higher increases as well. Of the 24 job families found in the Mercer Job Library, 5 of the top 6 jobs that saw the highest increases in 2024 have a high percentage of front-line workers.
Largest 2024 Salary Increases
- Transportation Service - up 5.4%
- Hospitality (Food & Lodging) - up 5.3%
- Construction - up 5.1%
- Real Estate Management - up 5.0%
- Retail - up 4.9%
- Production and Skilled Trades - up 4.9%
Because of the high demand for employees to fill these jobs, organizations should consider their level of total rewards and what makes them competitive. Although it’s not all about the money, it’s still critical to be competitive, especially when roles are hard to fill.
Organizations are concerned about more than just filling roles. As organizations move toward workforce and staffing models that are more agile, many are seeking particular skills to meet specific needs to drive their success.
In the United States, the hottest skills that organizations are seeking seem to correspond mostly with some of the jobs in highest demand. They include (not in order of demand):
- Nursing, Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse
- Basic Life Support
- Merchandising, Selling Techniques, Retail Sales
- Sanitation
- Forklift Truck
- Troubleshooting and project management
Hard skills, like sanitation or even operating a forklift, can be taught to someone hired without those skills or to current employees.
It is often more difficult to fill roles that require soft skills, such as troubleshooting and selling techniques, as these skills are often more challenging to teach. It is usually more effective to find someone who already has those skills and then provide resources for developing their skills further.
It is often hard to assess whether someone has good soft skills based on a resume or a half-hour interview. It’s likely you have a better idea of who possesses those soft skills within your own team. This is just one of the reasons it’s time to approach filling hot jobs in a different way.
5 ways to approach filling high-demand jobs in 2025
Use these five tips to fill positions that are in high demand and that require the hottest job skills.
1. Turn to your internal labor market
Did you know that you have a highly trained talent pool at your fingertips?
Your internal labor force is your greatest asset for filling in-demand jobs. Rather than compete against other organizations for those roles, fill the job from among current employees who can be trained. You can build the talent you need through mentorships, training programs, and upskilling. As an added benefit, think about the valuable institutional knowledge that you can leverage and retain by training and promoting from your own labor market.
If you plan your talent movement right, you’ll line up someone else from your company to backfill the open position. In this way, the remaining open role will be in a field that is less in demand, giving you more talent options and fewer competing organizations.
Succession planning used to focus on leadership roles, but many companies have found that succession planning lower in the organization and understanding the skills needed allow them to better leverage their internal labor market.
2. Explore new recruiting sources
Money listed ZipRecruiter, Indeed, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor as the top job search sites. This means that when using these sites you’ll have the greatest competition and must build a more compelling job posting to even catch the eye of prospective candidates.
If you are tired of employees overlooking your job listings and attracting the wrong applicants, consider alternative recruiting sources. For example, attending college job fairs and partnering with trade schools allows you to connect directly with eager talent just entering the workforce. Another alternative could be to partner with local employers to support career changers: provide networking, learning events, and job boards to share opportunities reciprocally. In an age where employees are seeking employers who truly care for their well-being, what could be better than helping them find their next job when they are ready?
3. Optimize your employee value proposition
Your employee value proposition (EVP) summarizes what you offer employees — from compensation and benefits to flex working and charitable contributions — and hopefully directly correlates with what they want.
In the fall of 2023, Mercer surveyed more than 4,000 employees working for 250 companies in the US. Although some concerns employees cited remained consistent, others changed from prior years. What are the top concerns your employees have?
- Financial matters have been among top concerns for the past three years and and include covering monthly expenses, ability to retire, and personal debt.
- Burnout and health remains a top concern, with workload/life balance and mental/emotional health remaining in the top 5, joined by physical health and fitness.
By understanding these employee concerns, you can make adjustments to your EVP that will be important to your teams.
Additionally, consider how you communicate your EVP not only in the wording and content, but also in the channels and frequency with which you reach your employees and prospects. The best offerings are useless if the employees and prospects aren’t aware they are available.
A simple example of where a communication strategy takes on some complexity is when you have a mix of office workers and employees on a manufacturing floor. The office workers are regularly on the computer and can access things like emails and the company intranet site. The latter group might not even look at email during a regular work week and may instead rely on in-person communication from team leaders. How will you make sure that your employees are aware of your EVP?
4. Use incentives where it makes sense
Offering a sign-on bonus can give you an advantage when a candidate is considering multiple offers. But, how much do you offer? Look for surveys as well as real-time data from job postings to find out the appropriate amount to secure the competitive position that you want.
Retention bonuses can typically provide an incentive for employees to stay for a prescribed period of time in order to receive the payout. By ensuring that key employees are retained, you will be able to leverage their expertise, perhaps identify new opportunities and ways to leverage their institutional knowledge, or just keep things running while you seek a replacement. Again, understanding the right amount to balance budgetary concerns but making the payment enticing is key to a successful retention bonus program.
5. Encourage more referrals
Referrals are a valuable source of talent because you don’t need to invest in recruiting. You also have a connection who can personally vouch for the employee.
To increase the number of referrals, consider implementing a referral bonus or increasing your existing one to determine which employees have friends in the job market or know passive talent who may want to join your team.
A few more things to consider…
Since we’re all looking for new ways to increase our competitive advantage, we employed the use of generative AI by asking for a few more creative strategies to attract talent for hard-to-fill roles.
- Offer flexible work arrangements. In today's workforce, flexibility is highly valued. Consider offering flexible work hours, remote work options, or compressed work weeks. This can be particularly appealing to candidates who value work-life balance or have specific scheduling needs.
- Provide professional development opportunities. Highlight opportunities for growth and development within the company. Offer training programs, mentorship initiatives, or tuition reimbursement to attract candidates who are looking to enhance their skills and advance their careers.
- Showcase company culture through video content. Create engaging video content that showcases your company culture, work environment, and employee experiences. This can give candidates a glimpse into what it's like to work at your organization and can help them envision themselves as part of the team.
- Collaborate with educational institutions. Partner with universities, colleges, or vocational schools to establish internship programs, co-op opportunities, or apprenticeships. This allows you to tap into a pool of talented students or recent graduates who may be interested in gaining practical experience in their field.
- Offer unique perks and incentives. Think outside the box and offer unique perks or incentives that set your company apart. This could include wellness programs, on-site childcare, pet-friendly policies, or even sabbatical programs. Tailor these offerings to align with the interests and needs of your target candidates.
- Engage with online communities and forums. Participate in online communities, forums, and social media groups that are relevant to the industry or role you're hiring for. Engage in discussions, share valuable insights, and establish your company as a thought leader. This can help attract the attention of passive candidates who are already interested in the field.
Need a push in the right direction?
In a complex labor market, there are so many levers you can pull to improve your chances of finding and keeping the talent you need. Whether revamping your EVP or setting up a way to mine internal talent, Mercer has tools, insights, and experts to help. From providing data specific to your industry or location to developing a multifaceted communication strategy, we have a solution that is right for you.
Call us at 855-286-5302 or email us at surveys@mercer.com to learn more about our workforce surveys.