Why job seekers can’t connect with the right employers

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 31/08/2021

The post pandemic job market has shown some signs of recovery, however finding a job remains a difficult case for millions of job seekers who seem to not be able to connect with the right employer.

According to the latest available data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, even though the number of job openings in the country increased to 10.1 million on the last business day of June, hires were only 6.7 million. 

To learn more about why job seekers aren’t connecting with open positions, FlexJobs surveyed 1,800 unemployed workers to learn more about their situations. Of these respondents:

• 69% are currently unemployed as a direct result of the pandemic
• 69% are actively and consistently searching for a new job
• 25% are searching for a job “to some degree”
• 42% have been out of work for more than one year
• 57% used a free job search service, while one-third used a paid job search service to assist them

Job seekers are frustrated

While 72% respondents said they had collected unemployment and/or at least one stimulus relief payment, only 13% said they had postponed their job search because of the support. Of those actively searching for work, 48% reported that they are frustrated with their job search because they are not finding the right jobs to apply to.

Job seekers are also frustrated because:

• Employers are unresponsive (42%)
• There aren’t enough openings in their preferred profession (41%)
• They have applied but are not selected for an interview (34%)
• There were no opportunities worth pursuing in the last month (15%)

In addition to the frustrating job search, 53% of respondents also say that their mental health is worse today than it was before the pandemic.

Mismatches in the job market

Clearly, there are many aspects of the job search that are frustrating workers, but one of the primary reasons is due to mismatches in the job market. While there are many different types of mismatches, in the post-pandemic economy certain mismatches are more prevalent than others.

In April 2021, an analysis of job market data conducted by the Dallas Federal Reserve found that while there are more job openings than job seekers and wage growth is up, many employees do not want to return to their old jobs. In July 2020, 68.2% of workers said they were willing to return to their previous job with the same hours and pay rate. However, by April 2021, that number had dropped to 52.3%.

During the pandemic, many jobs transitioned to full-time remote work, and workers found out that they actually enjoyed working at home. As a result, many job seekers would prefer a fully remote or hybrid job – something not all employers offer right now.

Indeed, another FlexJobs survey has found that many employees are willing to quit instead of giving up remote work. A whopping 58% of respondents said they would “absolutely” look for a new job if they cannot continue remote work in their current role, while another 65% wanted to work fully remotely post-pandemic.