Solving the ‘Talent Acquisition Paradox’

01.24.2025
Workforce

Connecticut is dealing with a “talent acquisition paradox” says Jack Mahoney, a senior executive with the global job matching and hiring platform Indeed.

The crux of that paradox? While the state’s unemployment is at a near-record low 3%, there are 75,000 job openings, 7% above pre-pandemic levels. 

“Low unemployment is excellent,” Mahoney told the record, sold-out crowd at CBIA’s Jan. 15 Economic Summit + Outlook.

“But for everyone in this room, that poses a challenge. It makes it so much more difficult for you to hire the roles that you need.”

Stamford-based Indeed has grown into the world’s largest job website since it was founded in 2004.

Talent Shortages

Mahoney, Indeed’s head of revenue and growth finance, said that job and job seeker trends on the site have been trending down since hitting peaks in 2023. 

He also highlighted CBIA’s 2024 Survey of Connecticut Businesses, which found that 78% of employers have difficulty finding and retaining talent.

“When you look at what’s hampering growth,” he said, “it’s the lack of skilled applicants and the cost of living that’s causing issues for you in this room and other businesses across the state.”

Mahoney said that with talent shortages and changing skills demands, it’s important for employers to get faster and more efficient in their hiring processes. 

And a big part of that is making sure companies optimize their job postings and descriptions.

“What it might actually be is you’re not attracting candidates to click on your job, to apply to your job, and there’s a number of factors that go into that,” Mahoney said.

Pay, Benefits

He said the key things job seekers look for in a job posting is pay. 

Connecticut wages increased an average 3.1% in 2023 and state Department of Labor data shows workers continued to see strong wage gains through 2024.

But Mahoney said that if employers can’t increase pay, highlighting benefits can help them stand out to candidates.

“Benefits are often looked at as much as pay.”

Indeed’s Jack Mahoney

“Benefits are often looked at as much as pay,” he said. 

“Think about either adding new benefits, or at the very least make sure that you are highlighting the ones that you do have in your organization.”

Mahoney said other factors including a company’s working conditions, values, and mission are also important to highlight for job seekers.

“What we’re finding is that duties, skills, pay, benefits, what a day in the life looks like—these are all the most critical things that you need to make sure you’ve nailed before adding anything else,” he said. 

Job Qualifications

An Indeed survey found that job seekers feel they need 50% to 80% of the qualifications on a posting to confidently apply for a job. 

He urged employers to carefully consider the actual qualifications necessary for including on job postings. 

“Do not throw the kitchen sink at it, because according to this data, you’re going to miss a lot of individuals,” he said.

“At the end of the day, what matters most is, can the candidate demonstrate that they have the skills to do the job well?”

Mahoney

Mahoney said there is momentum in improving job descriptions. 

He noted that more employers are lowering requirements for formal education and years of experience. 

“At the end of the day, what matters most is, can the candidate demonstrate that they have the skills to do the job well?” Mahoney said. 

Increasing Efficiency

Mahoney noted that Indeed expects the U.S. labor force participation rate to decline in the coming years.

In Connecticut, 28,100 people (-1.5%) have left the labor force since February 2020.

That decline makes hiring even more challenging for employers.

Mahoney said that highlighting the importance of making the process as fast and efficient as possible.

“It’s going to be really critical to focus on all these tactics and get better at trying to attract job seekers.”

Mahoney

“Today, the average time it takes to hire somebody is 43 days,” Mahoney said.

“There are thousands of jobs that take months and months and months to hire for. That’s just an awful candidate experience.

“It’s going to be really critical to focus on all these tactics and get better at trying to attract job seekers, because the reality is that it’s going to be challenged for the foreseeable future.”

Artificial Intelligence

Mahoney said artificial intelligence is helping to address some of the challenges in the hiring process. 

“Generative AI is changing the way we discover information and the way we work, and it’s no different than what’s happening in the hiring landscape,” he said. 

“These emerging technologies offer powerful tools to address all of the challenges we’ve discussed, driving efficiency, improving candidate experience and making higher hiring more fair.”

While AI is expanding quickly, Mahoney said it isn’t replacing human judgment as the most important part of the equation.

“Gen AI is not going to take your job, but somebody who knows how to use it probably will.”

Mahoney

He noted that Indeed researchers evaluated nearly 3,000 work skills across millions of job postings. 

They found that generative AI is likely to displace less than 3% of jobs.

He said upskilling employees to use these new technologies will help create efficiencies and lead to new jobs and opportunities.

“What this all boils down to is the fact that at least currently, Gen AI is augmenting human skills, it’s not replacing them,” Mahoney said.

“As our chief economist likes to say, ‘Gen AI is not going to take your job, but somebody who knows how to use it probably will.’”

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