Highlights of key findings, North America
Challenges attracting and retaining employees have spiked during the pandemic, leading employers to adopt new strategies and plan future actions to remain competitive. Those that don’t risk getting left behind in their ability to get and keep talent.
The August 2021 North America Talent Attraction and Retention Survey examines the reasons why employers are experiencing challenges in attracting and retaining employees, where these struggles are most prevalent, and the steps employers are taking to win and keep talent in a highly competitive environment.
Nearly three in four employers (73%) are currently having difficulty attracting employees. That’s nearly triple the number (26%) who reported difficulty last year, and up from 56% during the first half of this year. Roughly the same percentage of employers (70%) expect the difficulty to persist in 2022. Retaining employees has also been challenging. Six in 10 respondents (61%) are having a hard time keeping workers, and a similar percentage expect the problem to continue into next year. Last year, only 15% of employers reported having difficulty retaining employees.
In response, employers have already implemented or are planning several actions to attract and retain talent. The most prevalent action already taken by 70% of employers is placing a broader emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. Ninety percent of employers that have done so expect this to be permanent.
One of the most common actions employers are planning or considering is revising their health and wellbeing benefits. Most employers also expect these actions to be permanent for both attraction (71%) and retention (78%).
To improve attraction, 53% of employers have already taken action to focus more on improving the employee experience, while 61% are offering greater workplace flexibility. The most commonly cited next step employers are planning or considering to attract employees is raising starting salary ranges (43%). To retain employees, 70% of employers have taken action to increase workplace flexibility, while 65% are providing tuition reimbursement. Forty-nine percent of employers are planning or considering making market movement adjustments and offering higher base salary increases.
Our findings make clear that to be best positioned to win and keep the talent they need for sustained success, organizations need to understand the range of strategies available to them across the entire employee experience. Employers should ensure their current and planned actions align with their desired employee experience, meet affordability requirements, and consider their current and prospective workforce needs.
The main action employers have already taken to both attract and retain employees is a greater focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (70%), and this is largely expected to become permanent (91%).
To attract employees
Employers have also instituted greater workplace flexibility (61%) and increased their geographic area of recruitment (58%), along with a greater emphasis on improving the employee experience (53%), in order to attract employees. Greater focus on improving the employee experience is most likely to become permanent (78%).
| Action | % of employers that took action | % of employers planning to make action permanent |
|---|---|---|
| Broader emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion | 70% | 91% |
| Increase workplace flexibility | 61% | 54% |
| Increase geographic area of recruitment | 58% | 49% |
| Greater focus on improving the EX | 53% | 78% |
| Greater partnering with schools and universities to identify candidates for roles | 50% | 74% |
To retain employees
Additional actions employers have already taken to retain employees include increasing workplace flexibility (70%), providing tuition reimbursement (65%) and instituting work-from-anywhere policies (56%). Tuition reimbursement policies are most likely to become permanent (90%).
| Action | % of employers that took action | % of employers planning to make action permanent |
|---|---|---|
| Broader emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion | 71% | 90% |
| Increase workplace flexibility | 70% | 54% |
| Tuition reimbursement | 65% | 90% |
| Allow employees in certain jobs to work from anywhere | 56% | 48% |
| Off-cycle promotions (w/increase) | 51% | 61% 78% |
Salary adjustments
Health and wellbeing benefits
Training opportunities
Research findings are based on responses from 380 employers representing 7.4 million workers. The survey fielded in North America between August 4 and August 9, 2021.
Respondent profile
