U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs in July, slowing down from previous months. The increase is also lower than analysts expected. This shows that the Federal Reserve’s plan to slow growth may be working. The unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.5%. Year-over-year wage growth remained flat at 4.4%.
The Numbers
187,000: U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs in July.
3.5%: The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%.
4.4%: Wages grew 4.4% over the past year.
The Good
The headline number of July’s report, 187,000 jobs added to the economy, is good news because it represents a more sustainable pace of growth, and as MarketWatch reports, could be a sign that the economy is cooling enough to decrease inflation. Nearly half of the jobs created in July were by medical providers and in social programs. The Federal Reserve also dropped its forecast of a recession, and economists say a downturn is not likely in the next year.
The Bad
According to the New York Times, wage growth is still higher than experts would like to see, remaining unchanged from the 4.4% year-over-year growth seen in last month’s report. Federal officials are looking for that number to drop. Recently, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated that some Fed officials have been making the case that high wage growth could be a sign that workers are trying to keep up with inflation by negotiating higher pay, so slower wage growth could follow decreased inflation.
The Unknown
The big question is whether the Fed will increase rates again at its next meeting in September. As the Wall Street Journal reports, officials will also be able to consider August’s jobs report numbers and inflation data from July and August during that meeting. July’s jobs report and June’s inflation numbers paint a mixed picture, with slower job growth and consumer inflation down to 3% but high wage growth and flat labor force participation. So, experts will be watching the next reports closely.
The future of work is green. According to the United Nations, the global economy is undergoing a “greening,” as industries like energy, transportation and construction adopt more sustainable practices. That process could create 24 million more jobs globally by 2030, putting workers with green skills in high demand.
However, supply has not kept up, even as the need for green skills spills into other industries like economics and finance, security, market and geopolitical analysis, communications, social sciences, and legal.
In this article, we’ll explore the drivers for green jobs and the need for green skills, which green skills are in the highest demand and how employers can find and hire top green talent.
What are Green Jobs?
So, what qualifies as a “green job?” According to the International Labor Organization, “Green jobs reduce the consumption of energy and raw materials, limit greenhouse gas emissions, minimize waste and pollution, protect and restore ecosystems, and enable enterprises and communities to adapt to climate change.”
Demand for green skills is outpacing the supply. According to LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report, between 2022 and 2023, job postings requiring at least one green skill rose 22.4% while the share of green talent in the workforce only grew 12.3%.
What’s causing the shift? According to the World Economic Forum, many countries are working to achieve net zero by 2050. This means that both governments and businesses are driving the green transition.
So far, the majority of green job growth has come in some of the highest polluting industries, such as energy and transportation, and in some of the countries that produce the most greenhouse gases.
The U.S., Germany and India, countries that emit some of the highest amounts of greenhouse gasses, are leading the way in green jobs. According to the World Economic Forum, Germany is adopting more green skills in the manufacturing industry, and the U.S. and India are outpacing other countries in both oil and gas and mining.
But the need for green jobs goes beyond installing solar panels and building electric vehicles. According to LinkedIn, one of the most important sectors in sustainability is finance, and it is lagging behind. In the fight against climate change, huge investments will need to be made in things like wind farms and electric vehicle charging stations, and financial professionals will be in the spotlight. Despite that, only 6.8% of finance workers globally have green skills. However, there are signs of change. Between 2021 and 2022, the percentage of green jobs in finance grew 17%.
With increasing competition for green talent, employers need to have an in-depth understanding of the most in-demand green skills and how to attract, hire and train top talent.
What are Green Skills?
It is easy to mistakenly associate certain green skills to specific industries. Unlike the ability to set a broken bone, which will qualify a worker for a job in healthcare but isn’t relevant if they’re applying for a role with a law firm, green skills are different. Think of green skills more like tech and digital skills in their ability to be applied across a wide range of industries. For example, carbon accounting, or estimating the carbon footprint of different organizations, can play an important role in a variety of industries, from consulting to waste management. While there might be a concentration of workers with green skills in green industries, those skills are in demand across the global economy.
According to LinkedIn, the fastest growing green skill in the EU is climate action planning. A climate action plan is “a framework document for measuring, tracking and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and adopting climate adaptation measures.”
Climate action plans exist for a variety of organizations. For example, they exist at the government level, including for U.S. states, for international organizations like the World Bank, Fortune 500 companies and more. This means employers are competing for candidates across industries.
There are many green skills that are required for jobs in industries not considered green. For example, according to LinkedIn, a knowledge of energy efficiency could be necessary for roles like a plumbing engineer, utilities manager, vice president of facilities or HVAC specialist.
So, what are the most in demand green skills? It depends on where you are. In the U.S., carbon accounting, drinking water quality and energy engineering are seeing some of the fastest growth. While in the EU, sustainability education and carbon emissions round out the top three after climate action planning.
How to Hire for Green Skills
To meet their own hiring and sustainability goals, employers need to understand where to find candidates with in-demand green skills, how to attract them and how to train green-adjacent workers to help fill skills gaps. Here, we cover three options for employers struggling to fill green roles.
1. Skills-Based Hiring
Skills-based hiring sounds simple—hiring people based on skills rather than previous job titles. However, according to SHRM, it requires a commitment to change. Traditionally, many jobs list requirements like specific degrees or years of experience that are used to determine if candidates are ready to take on a role.
According to one survey, more than 80% of employers believe they should prioritize skills over degrees. Yet, 52% are still hiring from degree programs because it’s considered a less risky choice. This means that especially in entry- and mid-level roles, candidates with the right skills could be overlooked for failing to meet these specific requirements.
Research shows that adopting a skills-based hiring strategy can yield significant improvements to an organization’s talent acquisition program—increasing quality of hire, expanding the talent pool, increasing diversity and improving employee retention.
Transitioning to a skills-based hiring process requires a culture change, a transformation in thinking from the top down—from senior leadership to hiring managers—andupdates to many aspects of the recruitment process.
One of the most important steps is updating the screening or assessment process. Rather than eliminating candidates who lack certain degrees or years of experience, develop criteria and assessments that objectively measure the skills necessary for the job. Then, screen candidates in rather than screening them out. An RPO provider with talent advisory capabilities can assist organizations moving to a skills-based screening and assessment strategy.
2. Green Adjacent Skills and Gateway Jobs
Additionally, employers can build gateway jobs and look for candidates with green adjacent skills.
Gateway jobs are roles that can serve as steppingstones and give workers the opportunity to gain the green skills they’ll need for a green career. According to the LinkedIn report, one example of a gateway job is in supply chain management. As the industry looks to reduce its carbon emissions, workers are developing the green skills to do the job, even though they may not have had them when they were hired. In fact, 41% of workers who move into gateway jobs have no prior green experience.
An effective strategy for hiring candidates for these gateway roles is looking for green adjacent skills. These are skills that don’t necessarily fall under the green umbrella but would give the candidate the ability to do many functions related to the role. For example, candidates with STEM and digital skills can go a long way toward helping an organization reach its sustainability goals. Also, experience in industries currently undergoing a green transformation, like utilities, mining, transportation and agriculture can be applied to green jobs.
To find these candidates, employers need a robust souring strategy to identify those with adjacent skills. The right technology solution can identify both active and passive candidates with specific skills, expanding the talent pipeline and predicting factors such as cultural fit, willingness to change companies and future tenure potential.
3. Reskilling and Upskilling
When hiring candidates with adjacent skills, employers must implement reskilling and upskilling programs to fill the skills gap.
According to the World Economic Forum, nearly half of young workers believe they don’t have the right skillset to guarantee them an adequate job over the next decade. On top of that, sustainability transformations happen quickly, and without ongoing training, older workers could be left behind. The good news is that according to PwC, 77% of employees are ready to learn new skills or completely retrain in response to new technologies in the workplace.
Reskilling and upskilling can happen at a few different levels, from government programs to higher education and private employers. However, organizations shouldn’t just rely on external programs. By building effective reskilling programs, businesses invest in services tailored to developing their own workforce while also assisting the global need for more sustainable work.
A Renewable Future
Setting up a green, sustainable future is everyone’s responsibility. As the demand for green skills increases, employers need effective solutions for finding, hiring and training top green talent. RPO providers, especially those with talent advisory services, can be a valuable resource for talent leaders looking to revamp their recruiting programs for a renewable future.
In this article, the third in our Multigenerational Workforce series, we’ll be focusing on millennials in the workplace, including what matters to them and how best to engage them.
By 2025, millennials will make up over half of the workforce, essentially replacing retiring Baby Boomers. They’ve already made a huge impact on the way we work, including leveraging technology to revolutionise productivity. As the older millennials enter their 40s, they’re moving into leadership roles and will have even more influence on how organizations operate into the future. So, how can employers harness the power of millennials to drive their businesses forward?
Who are Millennials?
Millennials, less commonly known as Generation Y, follow Gen X and precede Gen Z. Millennials were born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s during the rise of personal computers and technology, making them tech-savvy. They’re the first generation to come of age in the new millennium, hence the name millennials. They are also known to be values-driven.
Despite these stereotypes, millennials have been described as self-sufficient, solving their own issues and teaching themselves through the internet rather than relying on others for help. They are also known to be confident, curious and open-minded.
What Matters to Millennials in the Workplace?
Digital & Tech Skills
Having been the first generation to grow up in a digital world, millennials have widespread experience of the development of technology, being both the “pioneers and the guinea pigs”.
This has affected the way that they communicate, with 41% of millennials choosing to communicate electronically instead of face-to-face according to a study by PwC. However, they’re also the last generation to have grown up in a world without the internet in every household.
When considering a job, 59% of millennials claim that technology in the workplace is an important factor. Employers are responding to this by encouraging professional use of social media at work and introducing smartphones as an employee benefit.
Mission and Purpose
Millennials thrive in a workplace that is mission-driven, keeping them motivated and inspired. In our recent report, Inside the Candidate Experience, we found that mission and purpose were the second most important factor for millennials when considering a new job. Those who work for companies with this as a priority feel more accomplished. Millennials want to share their employer’s goals and values in order to feel they are contributing to the world.
The move to a more collaborative working environment has been driven by millennials through the use of technology as it’s become more sophisticated. A collaborative environment allows workers to speak their ideas freely and feel a sense of belonging as part of a team. One way that employers are emphasizing collaboration is through mentorship programs, which have been proven to increase the happiness of workers and their productivity.
How Do You Engage Millennials at Work?
As millennials slowly take over as the majority of the workforce, employers must learn strategies to keep them motivated and feeling valued.
1. Be Open and Transparent
Millennials want openness and transparency from their leaders, ensuring their confidence through factual information that can be validated.
Keep millennials productive by creating clear targets are regular opportunities for feedback and praise. In fact, according to the same PwC study, 51% of this demographic believe that frequent or continuous feedback is a must on the job, making up a huge part of what keeps them motivated and engaged in their work.
2. Embrace Teamwork
To manage a multigenerational workforce, leaders must recognize that each generation may need different methods of management. Among millennials, 74% expressed that they are as happy working alongside other generations as with their own. So, it’s unsurprising to find millennials now managing older workers.
However, 34% of millennials felt that their personal drive could be perceived as intimidating to other generations. Effective programs that encourage interactions between different generations are necessary to overcome these misperceptions. For example, millennials thrive in opportunities such as “reverse mentoring,” in which they are able to learn from and teach skills to older workers.
3. Invest in Employee Development
Millennials look at their work as a means to learn and develop, which may be the greatest differentiator between them and all other generations. Indeed, a whopping 87% of millennials say that growth and development opportunities are important to them in a job, compared to just 69% of non-millennials. Offering opportunities to develop technology skills and interpersonal skills will not only help you retain millennial employees, it will help you ensure this important segment of your workforce is ready to step into leadership roles.
4. Trust Them
While millennials want to be supported through feedback and praise, they also want the freedom to “be their own boss.” Flexibility is important to millennials in the workplace.They’ll happily put in the long hours if they believe their work has a purpose, but those hours may not be during the traditional 9-to-5.
Millennials believe that success should be evaluated through productivity, rather than the number of hours they are seen in an office. If they meet the deadlines you set, don’t be concerned about the hours they clock in and out. Focus on creating a flexible work culture to maximize millennial engagement, allowing employees to have more control over their working hours and location.
5. Lead with Your Values
Millennials are searching for more than “just a job” and want to achieve something worthwhile. Akin to Gen Z, millennials believe that companies and their leadership should be contributing positively to society. Strong corporate ethics will encourage loyalty among millennials.
A report from Deloitte found that 54% of millennials research a brand’s environmental impact and polices before accepting a job offer. To keep up with today’s candidates, it’s vital that organizations have updated employer value propositions (EVP) showcase the companies intentions to address social and environmental concerns.
In our multigenerational workplace, each generation will shape the world of work in their own way, and each will need different things from their working lives. Millennials bring commitment and collaboration to the workplace. In return, they want opportunities to grow and collaborate. Organizations that can effectively empower millennials to provide ethical leadership hold key to keeping them engaged.
Find out our top 10 predictions for what we think the working world will look like in 2030 and the best practices to prepare for the future in our Destination 2030 report.
Future of Work
Destination 2030: 10 Predictions for What’s NEXT in the World of Work
Shifting Perceptions of Tech & Digital Talent for a Leading Retailer
A renowned grocery retailer turned to PeopleScout for a new employer brand and recruitment process to help them change perceptions and become an employer of choice for tech, digital and data analyst talent.
13,000views of digital, tech and data job postings per month on average
17,000tech, digital and data pros have joined a new LinkedIn community led by the client
39%increase in LinkedIn impressions
Situation
With the rise of ecommerce and consumers seeking more digital experiences, this leading grocery retailer needed to shift their workforce to support web and mobile app development, data analytics, cloud computing and more. They anticipated that 50% of their new hires would go into digital, tech and data-focused roles, yet their legacy employer brand and recruitment journey was designed for volume in-store hiring.
However, tech and digital talent couldn’t see past the shop floor. In a highly competitive and disruptive market, millennial and Gen Z digital natives simply didn’t think a retailer could match their needs or ambitions, despite the retailer’s vast capabilities and breadth of opportunities.
The organization turned to PeopleScout to help them evolve their employer value proposition (EVP) and employer brand so that it would speak to candidates with tech and digital skills and experience. Because of the stiff competition, the new brand had to work hard. It needed to bring their culture to life, define what was unique about the retailer and do justice to their innovation and variety of roles.
It also had to launch within 50 days to coincide with the conclusion of the launch of a new Digital, Tech and Data business unit.
Solution
In response, we created a dedicated brand platform for digital, tech and data roles. This brought all these roles under one umbrella, delivering integrated solutions across the company. With this bold new direction, the client could offer greater opportunities and take a new value proposition to market.
Curate
It was vital to understand the motivations of our audience. What was important to them, and what could the retailer offer that was a good fit?
To make sure we really knew our target talent’s needs and wants, we had to gain key insights from tech-focused colleagues of all levels, plus external contacts who fit the “digital native” demographic. It was also crucial to ensure all our insight came from a truly diverse pool of respondents.
We started by conducting interviews with leaders and visionaries to establish a clear view on the current situation and strategic direction for the future. We then held focus groups with team leads across data, tech and digital, as well as a series of workshops with their teams. This gave us a clear picture that helped us shape our prototype proposition.
Our external research consisted of in-depth interviews with DevOps specialists, software engineers and data scientists working for competitors for talent in digital, tech and data. Additionally, we surveyed potential candidates on market perception of the retailer. Our proposition was tested on all external candidates before finalizing.
Our key insights told us that external talent wanted:
Challenging problems
Collaborative cultures
Freedom to experiment and learn
A flexible work environment
Training and development
To see their work implemented
We found that the client’s offering matched this head on. We needed to highlight these things in the new employer brand platform:
Size, scale and complexity of challenge
Values and culture
Opportunities to develop
Tangible impact
Ability to work flexibly
Create
We combined our findings into employer value proposition (EVP) pillars that positioned the retailer as the perfect blend of nimble start-up with big business backing and future-facing retail giant. Using these pillars, we devised bold, exciting creative that brought our proposition to life. Steeped in the organization’s longevity and far-reaching impact from serving 71% of the public, the EVP focused on the journey to become a nimble tech-forward organization that creates incredible digital experiences.
The new platform also included a fresh color palette, a new tone of voice and a suite of edgy, tech-inspired characters with a sense of fun to be used across all tech, digital and data branding. Derived from tech and data symbols, they served to disrupt notions of the client as a purely retail organization.
These creative elements were then rolled out across a huge range of recruitment tools, including a brand book, presentation roadshow, social media video content, event materials, careers pages, lanyards, PowerPoint slides, a LinkedIn channel and external media. The tech teams are even dressing their offices using the new creative, applying images of the brand characters to walls and lockers and producing large 3D brand symbols situated across various spaces.
Community
The brand was well received internally and externally, driving engagement and inspiring teams. In order to build buzz, we built a communications and engagement strategy to drive awareness, which also resulted in existing employees becoming brand ambassadors.
With the brand in place, we developed a more intuitive candidate experience with a simplified application process. We also designed an email nurture program to convert interest into applications. These communications harnessed the power of our new brand ambassadors and immersed candidates in personalized content.
The new employer brand messaging now permeates all communications coming from the division, including the specially built LinkedIn community which acts as a digital talent pool for the retailer.
As part of the new brand launch, we ran interactive workshops and sessions to generate brand awareness at the annual Women in Data conference. This gave the client an opportunity to build relationships with women in the tech space and speak about their available opportunities to prospective candidates.
Results
Across LinkedIn, strong results from the launch of the brand show we’ve cut through to successfully appeal to our audience.
In the month after the launch, the LinkedIn content garnered:
216K impressions
4,100 engagements (a 39% increase from prior to the new brand launch)
The LinkedIn community has grown to over 17,000 followers in the three years since the launch.
On the client’s career site, there are an average of 5,000 proactive searches per month related to software engineering, showing that the brand has been successful in positioning the retailer as an employer of choice for software development professionals. The client experiences a monthly average of 13,000 views of digital, tech and data job postings.
In addition, over the last three years, there’s been a 66% increase in visits to the company’s digital, tech and data careers landing page.
At a Glance
COMPANY Leading grocery retailer
INDUSTRY Retail
PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS Talent Advisory
LOCATIONS 600 supermarkets, 800 convenience stores and ecommerce platforms
When the pandemic struck in 2020, the travel and hospitality industry saw some of the biggest impacts worldwide, and the reverberations and recovery are still shaping the industry years later.
Now, people are traveling again, but while many industries have recovered the jobs lost in 2020, hospitality lags behind. The industry faces a new set of talent challenges, but employers have the opportunity to reshape their talent programs for the world of travel.
The energy and utilities industry is in the process of a massive transition as providers move to green and renewable energy sources and adjust to changing energy use patterns across the globe. In the U.S., the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022, which increased the incentives for energy-transition-related investments and core renewables. In EMEA, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has spurred a faster transition to renewables, according to the UK Climate Envoy.
This growth has left a massive talent gap, especially in an industry with an aging workforce. Talent acquisition leaders in the energy and utilities sector need to understand the forces shaping the recruitment landscape to remain competitive.
Harnessing Social Media & the Creator Economy to Amplify Your EVP
During RecFest 2023 Robert Peasnell and Ayo Ogunde delivered a session on the Resourcing Leaders stage titled: ‘Harnessing Social Media & The Creator Economy to Amplify your EVP’.
Many joined us for the live session in July, including four guest speakers – leading talent acquisition professionals from Selfridges, ERM, RPS Group and Direct Line Group.
Now influencers are key to telling a brand’s story – how are you telling yours?
Fill in the form to watch our session recording for all the insight around EVP & influencers.
U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs in June, lower than analysts expected. This shows that the Federal Reserve’s plan to slow growth may be working. The unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.6%. Year-over-year wage growth rose to 4.4%.
The Numbers
209,000: U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs in June.
3.6%: The unemployment rate fell to 3.6%.
4.4%: Wages rose 4.4% over the past year.
The Good
June’s job gains are the smallest in two-and-a-half years, and economists say that’s good news. As MarketWatch reports, the Federal Reserve has been raising rates in the hopes of slowing job growth to decrease inflation. The latest report is a step in the right direction. Experts say that the 209,000 number “threads the needle between too strong and too weak” and marks a sustainable pace for growth, going as far as saying “if we’re going to have a soft landing, this is what it looks like.”
The Bad
However, there are areas of concern in the report. As the New York Times reports, year-over-year wage growth jumped again to 4.4% when analysts had expected a drop to 4.2%. Additionally, the month-over-month increase hit 0.4%. The Federal Reserve is also looking for wage growth to slow in order to hit their inflation goal of 2%, but it has remained stubbornly high.
The Unknown
The big question heading into July is how the report will influence the Fed at their next meetings later this month and in September. As the Wall Street Journal reports, officials have indicated that they are likely to increase interest rates to a 22-year high at the July 25-26 meeting after pausing increases in June. While the job growth points to a move in the right direction, wage growth indicates that the economy is still strong.
The tech and digital workforce is dynamic and continues to evolve at an astonishing rate. Recent advancements in AI and automation as well as the evolution of the metaverse are birthing the need for new skills. These advancements aren’t just affecting job roles; they’re reshaping entire industries and economies, propelling us into a future that many organizations aren’t prepared for.
Talent acquisition leaders across sectors are at the forefront of this revolution, facing the challenges and seizing the opportunities that come with it. Whether grappling with the rise of remote work, the ethical considerations of AI or how to develop the skills needed to thrive in the digital economy of tomorrow, organizations must keep their finger on the pulse of tech and digital skills to stay competitive.
CHECK OUT THIS INFOGRAPHIC FOR INSIGHT TO HELP YOU NAVIGATE THE EVER-CHANGING TECH & DIGITAL TALENT MARKET.
The energy and utilities industry is undergoing a massive transition as providers move to green and renewable energy sources and adjust to changing energy use patterns across the globe.
This means the sector is facing a unique set of talent challenges. In many areas of the globe, energy job growth is outpacing the rest of the economy. At the same time, the workforce is aging, creating a massive talent gap. In fact, according to McKinsey, the massive growth in solar and wind projects expected by 2030 will make it almost impossible to staff these projects with qualified development and construction employees as well as operations and maintenance workers.
Now, talent leaders need to think big—not just to attract more and younger workers, but to reskill workers in the shrinking fossil fuels industry and plan for the future.
In this handbook, you’ll learn:
Global trends driving the need for energy and utilities talent
Strategies for overcoming challenges in your energy and utilities hiring programs
![Through the job market volatility that has defined the hiring market for the past three years, the travel and hospitality industry saw some of the biggest impacts worldwide, and the reverberations and recovery are still shaping the industry years later. Now, people are traveling again, but while many industries have regained the jobs lost in 2020, hospitality lags behind.
Travelers are finally ready to hit the skies, seas and roads for both personal and business travel.
After several years of staying close to home, pent up demand has the travel industry booming. Global travel revenue is expected to triple 2020 levels by 2027. Full recovery of business travel to 2019 spend volumes appears likely by late 2024 or early 2025.i
Travel is more meaningful than it used to be, leading to increased traveler expectations and more challenges for hospitality staff.
46% of people say travel is now more important to them than it was before the pandemic.ii
43% of people are upping their travel budget in 2023.iii
91% of hospitality workers said they have dealt with customers who believed they inherently deserved privileges or special treatment, and 70% have wanted to leave the industry as a result.iv
However, hospitality staffing has not caught up to the renewed demand.
In the U.S. alone, nearly 2 million hospitality jobs remain unfilled, even as hiring slows in other industries.v
In September 2022, 87% of hoteliers reported staffing shortages.vi
In the UK, hospitality job openings are still 74% higher than they were in January and February of 2020.vii
One big reason for that? Millions of hospitality workers fled the industry during the pandemic and recovery.
15.6% of people left their hospitality jobs in March 2020.viii
8.3% of hospitality staff left the sector between August and September 2022.ix
Do you need help hiring hospitality workers? Learn about how you can attract the next generation of workers, build more diverse teams and plan for the future in The Recruitment Handbook for Hospitality and Travel.
[Download your copy now!]](https://www.peoplescout.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PeopleScout-Travel-and-Hospitality-Infographic-01.jpg)
