Reaching Diverse Candidates is One of the Biggest Hiring Challenges for 1 in 5 Companies

Reaching Diverse Candidates is One of the Biggest Hiring Challenges for 1 in 5 Companies

Efforts to establish a company diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy have steadily increased over the last two years, but 21% of U.S. companies say translating this effort to hiring is one of the biggest hiring challenges their company will face over the next year. 

This is according to a recent survey from The Harris Poll commissioned by Express Employment Professionals. 

Fifty-four percent of businesses report having a DEI policy in place compared to 52% in the first half of 2021 and 46% in the second half of 2020. Looking to the future, nearly a fifth of hiring decision-makers (18%) say their company plans to implement such a policy. Of those planning to do so, 11% say they plan to implement one by the end of 2022. 

Given companies' establishment of DEI policies, the likely next step is to actively recruit candidates outside of the companies' traditional demographic (e.g., have unique backgrounds, racially/ethnically diverse). 

Around half (49%), say their company is planning to take such action in 2022-in line with 2021 (51%). To this point, a fifth of U.S. hiring decision-makers (21%) say reaching these diverse candidates is one of the biggest hiring challenges their company will face over the next year. This is particularly a struggle in manufacturing industries (39%).

It's encouraging to see more companies adopting diversity, equity and inclusion policies to create workforces reflective of our society, according to Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller said. 

"Everyone deserves to feel heard and represented in their career as part of collaborative company cultures," he added. 

Survey Methodology

The survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals between Nov. 10 and Dec. 2, 2021, among 1,009 U.S. hiring decision-makers (defined as adults ages 18+ in the U.S. who are employed full-time or self-employed, work at companies with more than one employee, and have full/significant involvement in hiring decisions at their company). Data were weighted where necessary by company size to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

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