Navigating Labor Market Disruptors with Data

In 2024, there are two main disruptors forecasted for the labor market that AGS is particularly well positioned to address with the support of data from the Lightcast platform:

Skills are providing additional granularity and focus for recruiting.
Global talent shortages are presenting more challenges than ever.

Regardless of the source, these are meaningful changes taking place for any industry in the business of people. It means different ways of working, hard conversations on new realities and — most importantly — data to support shifting assumptions.

Data will provide a strategic advantage and put those with access and the know-how on how to apply it in an amazing position to succeed in 2024 and beyond. Let’s dig into these disruptors and review tangible examples of how global data and insights can provide a true competitive edge.

Lightcast provides trusted global labor market data, analytics, and expert guidance that empowers communities, corporations, and learning providers to make informed decisions and navigate the increasingly complex world of work. Lightcast provides best-in-class customer service with robust data, clear analysis, and expert guidance on skills, jobs, and opportunities helping power a future-ready workforce. Lightcast is active in more than 30 countries and has offices in the US, the UK, Italy, New Zealand and India.

Skills Are Providing Additional Granularity and Focus for Recruiting

Leveraging a skills-based approach has been proven to lower recruiting costs and increase employee satisfaction, engagement, and, ultimately, retention. More and more, a person is not defined simply by a ‘job title’ but by the specific skills they have which set them apart.

A skills-based approach can also shed tangible light on a disruptor like the emergence of AI in the workforce. Many in the workforce industry are bracing for change but don’t have an objective view of the actual data to leverage in day-to-day operations.

Here’s where a data-driven approach can equip teams with tangible data and the confidence to leverage it to best advise on how to attract and retain talent.

In the Lightcast tool, Talent Analyst, we can break down roles and jobs into skills, and isolate which jobs are requiring AI as a skill, and how this has changed over time.

In 2019, all of the top occupations hiring for AI skills were squarely in technology. Most expected this trend to continue with technology being the most obvious category disrupted by AI. However, in 2023, the fastest-growing role requiring AI skill was a creative one, ‘Writer,’ among another less technical role ‘College Professor.’ This is a great example where current market perception might not match the actual data. Data from the Lightcast platform helps users dig deeper into data to help separate the ‘signal’ from the ‘noise.’

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Global Talent Shortages Are Presenting More Challenges Than Ever

Talent pools are shifting across different segments and geographies — making some of the current recruiting assumptions limited in their reach. Company policies like return to office (RTO), remote work or hybrid work can have a meaningful impact on a company’s access to talent — and the nuances of those policies can be the difference between finding candidates (or not).

Take a search for a ‘Project Manager’ in London. A search typically starts in that metropolitan area and accessible suburbs. For London, demand has fallen sharply over the year like most areas, and the estimated size of this workforce is 48,000 with a median advertised salary of £46,000. If the hiring organization has a hybrid work policy requiring just one in-office day per week, this search area can be dramatically expanded to any area accessible in a reasonable commuting distance.

Across this geography, the impact on recruiting would be very significant. The total workforce estimate here is more than 74,000 and the median advertised salary is £41,000 – considerably lower than the London median.

Access to, and fluency in, this data brings a strong competitive advantage to workforce professionals to better match expectations to the realities of a shifting market.

These are just two examples of labor market disruptions where access to granular data — and the deep insight that comes from the teams using it — can provide a strategic advantage in finding high-quality talent.

"Our decision to lean on Lightcast insights, compared to other competitor products, stems from their ability to provide global consistency in data, which is particularly crucial in navigating diverse standards across countries. Lightcast’s Occupation Taxonomy seamlessly aligns disparate job titles and classifications, ensuring a unified approach to global data analysis."
Tim Johnson, Senior Manager of Data Strategy, Allegis Global Solutions