Survey finds employers bracing for recruiting and retention challenges in 2022

The coming year will see the continuation of the ongoing struggle by employers to recruit and retain a satisfied workforce, according to the newly published XpertHR’s Survey of HR Challenges for 2022.

The survey found nearly nine in 10 (89%) employers predicting that recruiting and hiring will be either “somewhat” or “very” challenging in 2022. The survey found that employee retention (79%), workforce planning (67%) and vaccine mandates (66%) were also among the most challenging issues facing the human resources professional in 2022.

But despite those concerns, approximately two-thirds (69%) of respondent employers expected their workforces to grow in 2022. Among the strategies being readied by the respondent employers for the new year are increased salaries and hourly wages for existing employees (66%) and incoming workers (60%), along with more flexible work options for new hires (48%) and existing staff (44%), new opportunities to develop employees’ careers within their roles (53%) and increased employee engagement initiatives (53%).

“While employers foresee challenges recruiting talent, a majority also anticipate growing their workforce, making the labor shortage even more of an acute pain point,” said Amanda Czepiel, head of content at XpertHR. “These recruitment and retention efforts are natural next steps and are consistent with what we’ve seen from employers eager to overcome the labor shortage.”

XpertHR’s Survey of HR Challenges for 2022 was conducted from Oct. 5-29 and included responses from 351 U.S. employers of various industries and workforce sizes representing more than 860,000 workers.