As an employer, what do you see as being the biggest challenge you will face in 2023?

Aspire Recruitment understands that employers are facing a multitude of challenges this coming year. From Brexit, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and now a recession, we asked our employers how these events are impacting their business and more precisely, the challenges that they are expecting to face in 2023.

We posed the question:

As an employer, what do you see as being the biggest challenge you will face in 2023?

A number of key challenges were raised:

46% said escalating business costs would be the biggest challenge in 2023.

43 % said Recruitment / Staffing would be the biggest challenge in 2023.

6.6% said lack of investment would be the biggest challenge in 2023.

4.4% said “other.”

Staffing and Recruitment

Companies across industries are facing a variety of hiring challenges in 2023. In a candidate driven market, skill shortages across sectors and increased salary expectations in the face of rising living costs, employers are faced with the challenge of attracting and retaining talent.

Employers also continue to see a high demand for remote and hybrid working several years after COVID. Whilst there are both advantages and disadvantages associated with home working, it is now an expectation for many employees and returning to the office has caused many to re-evaluate their jobs and future careers. This presents challenges for employers who cannot always accommodate flexible working. As one respondent highlighted, “we are finding that the type of work people want (remote and hybrid) is something we cannot offer for the majority of our roles.”

Employee wellbeing

With the economy and job market constantly changing, it can be difficult to predict what the future holds. Job uncertainty, as well as the soaring cost-of-living crisis, has inevitably

impacted employee wellbeing and anxiety levels about the future. Employers are now facing the challenge of reassuring their staff amidst these growing challenges. As one respondent noted “the biggest challenge is keeping your workforce from worrying about what the future holds.”

Evidence suggests there is a clear correlation between employee morale and business performance. It is therefore imperative for employers to prioritise protecting mental health and employee wellbeing in 2023. A good work-life balance, opportunities to progress, increased flexibility and extra benefits are some ways that employers can improve employee wellbeing.

Escalating business costs

2023 may be a financially challenging one, with employers also affected by inflation and the rising costs of living. Whether it be rising energy costs, infrastructure costs, or staff salaries in the face of wider economic unpredictability, employers are having to think of long-term ways to mitigate risks, drive growth and cut costs. When posing this question to employers that our consultant Frank works with; he commented that “employers are facing unprecedented cost rises across all recruitment and staff development. Not only are employers spending more time recruiting, but they are also having to expand how, where and when they identify talent and now more than ever the skills of a professional recruitment company can help to reduce time to hire and cost spent on recruitment.”

Looking forward

Given the challenges that we have raised in this article, we understand that the stability and growth of your business in 2023 is now more important than ever. Aspire Recruitment are committed to helping employers identify the best talent from the wider market, if you are currently or planning to recruit in 2023 please get in touch with frank.kinrade@aspirerecruitment.org.uk or call him direct on 0161 233 2642