Throughout the last few months of heightened sensitivity around the Economy, Draup has maintained that the Job postings and hiring continue to be strong.  As one US Economist puts it, an unemployment rate of 3.6% is hardly consistent with an economic downturn.  We have nothing to worry about but plenty to plan.  Companies across the globe are beginning to prioritize their cost planning exercises and getting a sense of expected wage inflation.  It is time to use Recruiters and Workforce Planners to gain a competitive edge.Here are some key highlights for you to consider:

• The construction of new manufacturing facilities in the US has soared 116% over the past year
• Many European countries are working very hard to build their AI power centers.  I was fortunate to visit the University of Milan in Italy last week and was mind blown by the efforts to win the AI space.  As discussed in previous emails, France is working hard to win in AI.  Many of their AI efforts focus on high-impact problems (for example, how to use AI to decide when the glass will break)
• In this phase of the economy, Workforce Planners would have to build scenarios for Front line workers and Knowledge workers.  The dynamics and assumptions of Workforce planning across these segments are diverging, and as a result, careful modeling is required
• A few companies we talked to are launching basic training for all (Example – Fundamentals of Mathematics and Statistics).  In this phase of the world we are in, Reskilling and Workforce Planning will have to act very closely
• Latin America offers fascinating choices of locations.  Latin America has exceeded North America in terms of % of jobs using Early Career (53% over 47%).  This result is a significant milestone and a signal that they are backing their early career talent.
• Companies are focusing on various aspects to attract hourly workers.  Some companies are proactively identifying the hourly workers who are about to finish community colleges and bachelor’s degrees and see if they can convert them into other forms of work
• Continuous investments into the cloud have enabled the creation and continuous growth of smaller cities with talent options in several countries in the US and India
• In countries like Australia and New Zealand, we are seeing a rise in roles such as Solutions Architect and Cloud Architect.  The skill stack of these roles is also expanding as the scope of work rapidly expands 
• With a large population that is learning new skills at an accelerated pace, countries like Indonesia and Bangladesh could very well dominate the next frontiers of innovation

There is undoubtedly one key challenge we face.  Inflationary environment across the globe and the expected wage inflation around that.  Here is a visual that depicts this.  Certain countries in South East Asia, like Indonesia, have done well in this environment against this metric (compared to western countries).  The critical question is if the inflation is transitionary or not. 

What should be the game plan for Recruitment across complex environments?  We looked at the papers published by several Futurists and Scenario planning researchers.  The book Imaginable- How to see the future is an excellent example of how we can draw inspiration from the Professional Gaming Industry.  Professional Game Developers will tell you that if you want someone to stick with a game, you have to give them clear instructions and create opportunities to win.  In other words, a lack of clarity can take gamers away from the game

So here are our action items for Recruiters inspired by Gaming industry principles

Recruiters – Granular Analysis

1.0  A Targeted Dashboard of Impacted companies

Draup can help create hyper-customized companies letting go of talent across the domains.  This dashboard can be refreshed on a weekly/biweekly basis and can be very helpful to refine.  This dashboard will help you prioritize your hiring.

2.0  Impacting Conversion: 

Many companies are facing conversion issues even if the library of candidates is identified.  The following aspects may be helpful

• Assembly of all available contact information
• A summary of workload responsibilities
• Sentiments Matrix:  We are experimenting with a new model called sentiments matrix
  • What are the technologies and concepts that a candidate is passionate about
  • Macro business aspects that the candidate is interested in
  • Areas where the candidate is potentially seeking growth
• More information to come to you on this, but this could be very useful in drafting the correct email

Workforce Planners – Strategic

In the new environment, Workforce planners need to expand their analysis portfolio.  Especially around remote capabilities.  Here is one example analysis we conducted studying remote working patterns in India.  We arrived at a remote capability score by country.  Such analysis will be very useful to your stakeholders.