How to Hire in a Recession

While many companies are experiencing tremendous growth, all signs point to the US entering a recession that will likely hit us within a year.

Recessions usually force companies to pause growth strategies and shift towards cost-saving measures, including layoffs and hiring freezes. However, cutting back on hiring and stifling your company’s growth may not be the best plan of action for this recession.

If you’re looking to engage with cloud professionals immediately, check out our NerdHerders page to learn more about hiring through our platform, Nerdly. But if you want to learn more about handling the current labor situation with a looming recession, read on.

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Navigating the talent shortage

It’s a job seeker’s market right now, and many believe that a recession will bring this to a grinding halt. However, the talent shortage will likely continue for the foreseeable future— some predict for up to five years.

While we may see a surplus of labor for some types of talent, the demand for other types of talent, particularly IT and engineering skills, will continue to grow. The job market is severely lacking experienced engineers and IT professionals, with demand growing higher each day as companies increasingly seek out these types of skills to create and develop platforms they need for competitive differentiation.

Three tactics for hiring during a recession

Employers will need to find ways to cut costs and be more efficient to keep their businesses healthy during a recession. Here are three strategies employers should consider while managing a workforce and hiring during a recession:

1. Use your AWS budget

You may lose some of your hiring budget during a recession, but you can work around this by hiring cloud engineers through AWS Marketplace. Spending on AWS Marketplace is linked to your AWS account and counts towards your monthly cloud spend, giving you access to centralized billing for Marketplace solutions and cloud services.

This is an especially good option if your company is enrolled in an AWS enterprise discount program (EDP) because hiring through Marketplace counts towards your committed spending.

> Not Hiring Talent Through AWS Marketplace? You Should Be

Since money spent is included in how you’re billed for cloud services, hiring this way is still beneficial even if you don’t have an EDP. Allocating money towards Marketplace solutions can help you meet your minimum AWS spend for discount programs, potentially pushing you closer to EDP eligibility and cost savings.

Unlike other digital catalogs, Marketplace includes pricing information to give you an upfront idea of costs. Talent solutions on the Marketplace include traditional staffing services as well as online platforms where you can find talent for hourly, project, contract, and contract-to-hire work.

Our platform, Nerdly, is available on the Marketplace and can help you hire top cloud talent and have the money count towards your AWS spend.

2. Hire part-time and contract workers

When hiring during a recession and looking to cut costs wherever possible, you may have to switch from hiring full-time employees to part-time workers. We recommend hiring part-time, contract, freelance, or gig economy workers during a recession. They’re a lot cheaper than full-time employees, who you also have to provide with benefits.

Companies will experience minimal barriers to tapping into the gig economy, despite ongoing labor shortages. In fact, many people are actively seeking side hustles to supplement their income amid high inflation. A recent study shows that 85% of workers said they have increased their amount of gig work, showing that workers are already moving in this direction.

Hiring contract workers is especially a good idea for consulting companies because project deliverables aren’t delayed due to layoffs. Temporary staffing options are a good option for employers who find themselves in this boat.

3. Offer remote work

Offering remote work does two things:

1. It attracts top talent
2. It cuts your operating expenses

Over 73% of remote workers went remote in the past four years, and 80% of them want to keep working remotely for the foreseeable future.

People like working remotely because it allows for better work-life balance, increases productivity, and improves diversity and inclusion. If you want to attract and keep top talent during a recession, you have to offer remote work to be competitive.

Remote work can also help your company cut costs.

When every penny counts, rent and building maintenance can gnaw away at your bottom line. Remote work reduces the need for office space, utilities, and other operational expenses. It also provides cost-saving benefits when it comes to hiring by expanding your talent pool to areas with a lower cost of living.

Stay informed and show compassion

There are multiple different approaches you can take when hiring during a recession. Depending on your industry and the size of your business, some strategies will work better than others.

It’s always critical to stay up to date with current economic information and analysis, but above all else, remember to treat your current team, new hires, and potential candidates with compassion. Economic hard times affect everyone, and it’s important to approach the hiring process with empathy during this time.

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