The tight employment market continues to frustrate employers and cause resourcing issues in many sectors including the property industry.

According to SEEK, In South Australia, job ads rose 16.5% in April 2022 compared with April last year and a whopping 89% when compared with April 2019. This reflects the persistently tight candidate market and shows that employers locally are still struggling to fill job vacancies.

At the same time, applications per job ad have steadily dropped in the past 2 years, falling 47% in March 2022 compared with March 2019.

The effectiveness of job ads has also decreased. Pre pandemic, employers were sourcing their candidates from job ads 95% of the time, globally. This has dropped back to 88% now, showing that employers have started to adopt other strategies such as using their networks and connections but still rely heavily on job ads to find new recruits.

In comparison, recruitment agencies have adapted to this environment more quickly and are using job boards to source candidates only about 50% of the time.

To add to the problem, more than ever, employers are competing with a wider range of industries outside of their own for talent.

So, in this highly dynamic hiring environment, how can employers compete?

• Expand sourcing channels beyond job boards
  Are you posting jobs on job boards and hoping for the best? In this highly dynamic hiring environment, employers need to find new ways to attract talent. Other candidate sources could include your networks and connections, LinkedIn and other social media channels.

• Better management of candidates
  Move quickly and decisively through the recruitment cycle to secure a candidate. Taking a long time to interview a designated set number of candidates is not a good strategy to secure top talent. Ensure you start the process with clarity on exactly what the role is and what skills and experience are required.

• Update your employee value proposition
  Candidates are increasingly looking for benefits such as flexible work hours, the option to work from home, pay rises and more. Smart employers will sharpen up your employee value proposition to include some or all these options in their offer of employment.



When you’re flat out, it’s hard to step out and take the time to spend on the recruitment of new people and employee retention strategies. However, now more than ever employers need to be less reactive and more proactive to attract and retain talent and accommodate the changing needs of candidates.