Recently, Twitter laid off 30% of its recruiting teams, just a few months into a companywide hiring freeze. TechCrunch reported that a Twitter spokesperson confirmed the layoffs. A few weeks later, Google and Apple are the latest tech giants to pump the brakes on signing on new talent.
As these titans of industry rethink their staffing needs, cleared recruiters may be experiencing a sigh of relief. With recession anxieties escalating, inflation fears, the war in Ukraine, and all after a worldwide pandemic, commercial tech companies are tightening the reigns on talent acquisition.
These freezes should be good news to cleared recruiters – with cleared candidates who haven’t been tapped by these organizations still remaining in your talent pool. One of the biggest complaints amongst cleared recruiters currently is that commercial companies have the ability to poach cleared talent because of the sizable sign-on bonuses, they are not able to compete. The 2021 Cleared Recruiting Survey conducted by ClearanceJobs showed that only 62% of recruiters engaged were able to offer sign-on bonuses. About half were able to offer relocation expenses, and ONLY 27% could offer retention bonuses to keep their employees.
Secondly, cleared candidates are over working in a SCIF. They like windows, and younger generations notoriously want access to their phone. Even older folks working in national security agree – one veteran I recently spoke with transitioned from working in intelligence after the military to being a contract recruiter for that very reason. Just having children is enough to want access to your phone throughout the day.
But with the commercial competition putting a hard stop on staffing, recruiters and HR teams supporting the DoD should be ready. Be ready to reach more candidates who don’t have the commercial options, ready to engage your pipelines to see if that other offer they were working fell through, and ready to meet employees where they are at so you don’t have to backfill once the tech market turns back.
THE CLEARED RECRUITING CHRONICLES: YOUR WEEKLY DoD RECRUITING TIPS TO OUT COMPETE THE NEXT NATIONAL SECURITY STAFFER.
