How Companies Are Overcoming Hiring Freezes This Year
01/24/2024
As the year continues to unfold, many companies are considering whether to initiate or are continuing to navigate through hiring freezes. This trend, largely driven by economic uncertainties as well as the use of generative AI, has compelled organizations to rethink their staffing strategies.
In this blog, we’ll explore how businesses are using innovative budget management to overcome hiring freezes while ensuring projects are delivered efficiently and within budget.
The Impact of Hiring Freezes
A hiring freeze is a temporary halt on the recruiting and hiring of any employees within an organization, even if there are vacant positions. Hiring freezes allow organizations to assess workforce needs, reallocate resources, and reposition strategies. These can happen due to budgetary concerns, issues with liquid assets, impending layoffs, economic downturns, and national or global emergencies. According to a recent survey by Resume Builder, more than 5 in 10 companies are likely to implement a hiring freeze in 2024.
Implementing hiring freezes, while fiscally prudent, poses significant challenges. First of all, employees may feel a sense of alarm about the sudden, unexpected change. They may worry about the health and longevity of the business or the security of their own job. In addition, without hiring new team members, current employees may have their workloads significantly increased. This often leads to employee burnout, which can then increase employee absence, lower productivity, and drive turnover.
Overcoming Hiring Freezes with Innovative Budget Management
When companies implement hiring freezes, they typically don’t allocate any of their operating budget to recruiting or hiring expenses because there are none. However, specific departments or projects are still likely to have budgets. This is because during times of economic uncertainties, companies are still likely to assign funds for a specific deliverable since it’s less of a financial risk than adding permanent staff to the payroll.
Once leaders recognize they can use their department or project budgets for contracting, they’re faced with a crucial decision: do they opt for an offshore model or find a partner agency?
Implementing hiring freezes, while fiscally prudent, poses significant challenges
Choosing Between Offshore Model and Partner Agencies
Traditionally favored for its cost-effectiveness, the offshore model is not without its challenges. Time zone differences can lead to potential delays and disconnects in communication. While cost-saving, these factors can delay project timelines and overall efficiency. These unique challenges can cause offshore outsourcers to end up requiring more management than in-house teams, further impacting efficiency.
Partner agencies, on the other hand, offer a more flexible and often more collaborative approach. With agencies, contracts can be tailored to specific project needs, offering a blend of cost-effectiveness and flexibility that provides access to experts on an as-needed basis. Additionally, agencies often operate within the same time zones and cultural contexts, which significantly streamlines communication and workflow.
The most impactful partners are the ones who understand that their clients are more than a number. While partners are hired to complete a business objective, they also prioritize innovation and employee development. That’s why a great partner ensures their team is top-notch and up to date on the latest trends in the space. On top of meeting deadlines and delivering high-quality work, they proactively strategize and leverage their experience to deliver your vision.
Create Meaningful, Strategy-Driven Digital Experiences
At Arkane Digital, we partner with you to create meaningful digital experiences based on strategy and experience. Led by a team of industry veterans, we bring years of experience in a technology landscape that is ever changing. Projects never stop at discovery, and we are a full-service digital agency that gets you from start to finish, whether that's launching the redesign of a new website or modernizing your e-commerce system.
Interested? Let’s start a conversation today.