Robert Hawthorne, president of Hawthorne Search, a national recruiting firm that has worked in the publishing and advertising space for 20-plus years, gave attendees at the America's Newspapers Senior Leadership Conference an insider's look at what their staffs are thinking, including their fears, their goals, what drives them and more.
His insights were based on an industry talent survey that Hawthorne Search conducts every year or so to get a sense of the job market, compensation trends, satisfaction levels and things companies can do to increase “stickiness.” Their latest survey included more than 100 responses from employees at newspapers and related publishers from across the country.
It included a broad mix of age groups, ranging from up and comers in Gen Z and Millennial brackets to senior leaders.
The days are gone, he said when an employer could simply put an ad in the newspaper and have their fax machine overflowing with resumes.
Fractured is the term he used to describe the way jobs are advertised today. “Now, if you're looking to hire, there's as many mechanisms as there are entertainment options when you want to find a new show,” he said. “Unfortunately, if you post a job, whether it's on LinkedIn or CareerBuilder or on Monster or in your newspapers, you either get inundated with too many people who don't fit or, in many cases, not enough actual people applying for the job.”
Job-hopping also is much more prevelant now, with staffers sometimes staying at a job for only 12- to 18-months before moving on.
Ghosting and ghost jobs also are adding to the challenge. According to a number of surveys, he said, many companies are posting jobs that don't even exist. The flip-side of that, he said, is that companies often report being ghosted by candidates they've been talking with — especially among the younger generation. They simply disappear and fail to respond to outreach from potential employers.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
He said that AI also is becoming a big part of hiring, as well as an important part of the job market in general, as companies look to contain costs.
He said one in four survey respondents said they've already seen jobs — either full-time or contract or freelance — eliminated or greatly reduced at their company.
“If your company isn't eliminating jobs today due to AI, there's probably a pretty good chance that you're thinking about it or figuring out how to use technology packages that are going to enable you to save money organizationally and reduce your head counts,” Hawthorne said. He said there is a great deal of uneasiness overall about AI among staff members and encouraged publishers who are anticipating using AI to do whatever they can to help transition staffers into new roles — something he said would be “more valuable to those folks than you could ever possibly imagine.”
Current market dynamics
Hawthorne said the survey data also looked at current market dynamics: whether companies are hiring, firing or conducting layoffs. He said the data was split, with about half of the respondents reporting that they are adding to their staffs or doing a limited number of reductions.
He said hiring can often be cyclical and seasonal, and 2024 was no different. His firm saw a good number of new hires in Q1 and Q2, followed by the summer doldrums when calls to his firm were about three to one from people losing their jobs as opposed to companies seeking to hire. And, those calls from people seeking jobs were from high-quality candidates who had simply gotten caught up in headcount reductions.
In the last four to six weeks, though, he said positive changes have been seen, with more companies seeking to hire ahead of the new year; there have also been a downturn in the number of unsolicited resumes coming from people seeking jobs. “Once more,” Hawthorne said, “I'm seeing some new roles bubbling up that are due more to expansion, new initiatives — growth, which is the best word that I can hear.”
But, there is an area that he said should be cause for concern among employers. A question that Hawthorne Search always asks of staff members in its surveys is: Are you open to new opportunities? Are you looking for a new opportunity in the next six months?
“Seventy-nine percent of the respondents across all levels said yes,” Hawthorne said, indicating that those staff members are either passively or aggressively looking for a new role. “That's got to be a concern,” he said, “and it's got to make you scratch your head and look internally and think: who in my team is unhappy?”
The survey also looked at what motivates employees to remain with a company.
He said this differs from past years where growth, culture and the opportunity to make an impact in their community were key drivers.
Industry morale also is a key concern, with three in four respondents not giving a ringing endorsement for their company vibes.
On the positive side, he reported that nearly half of the respondents gave an unqualified “yes” when asked if they would recommend the newspaper and related publishing fields to a recent college graduate interested in the industry. Another 40% said yes, but with some reservations. Only about 10% said they would not recommend it.
Retaining talent
The survey showed that less than 5% of respondents say the industry does a great job of nurturing and developing professionals. Forty percent said the industry does a “fair” job and nearly 55% say industry companies do a “poor” job of developing talent.
To help retain talent, Hawthorne encouraged conference attendees to evaluate their current practices for nurturing and developing staff, particularly younger employees, and implement structured mentorship programs, professional development opportunities, and clear career advancement paths. Then, “if they have a job offer that comes along that pays a little bit more money, but they see some growth and some professional development in your organization, they might stick around.”
The work-from-home phenomenon
Hawthorne said the single biggest phenomenon that he has seen in his 20+ years of recruiting was COVID and the work-from-home movement. “It was a game changer in every possible way,” he said.
Now, there is a big push to get people back into the office. In 2023, he said survey results showed that 75% of the people they talked with said they wouldn't even entertain a job that was in an office full-time or wasn't work from home with a little bit of a hybrid option, on their own terms.
This year, he said his firm has seen this shifting because of the overall state of the job market; about 60% said they would be open to returning to the office. However, he said nearly nine in 10 still would prefer something fully remote. He added that there are lots of people who will even take less money in exchange for the option to be fully remote. The way he described staffers' feelings about returning to the office full-time was “begrudgingly open.” Just know, he said, that this could be something that causes those people to leave your company if they are offered another opportunity at a company with more flexibility.
Cash vs. benefits
The survey also asked respondents which they would choose if their company offered them more cash in their pocket — in the form of bonuses or a higher salary — versus an increase in healthcare benefits, dental, matched 401(k)s, etc. “The vast majority — seven in 10 — just said: give me the money,” Hawthorne said. He said employees, to a large degree, stress that they've been cash strapped to some degree and — if they could choose only one — they would like more cash in their paycheck.
Hawthorne said their survey also looked at the job outlook for middle and senior management positions. When asked if the organization is looking to add middle or senior level roles in the next three to six months, 22% of the respondents said yes; 55%, no; and 22%, maybe.
Forty percent said their organization is looking to cut middle or senior level roles in the next three to six months. Twenty-five percent said no to that question, with another 35% saying maybe.
The hiring process
The survey also showed that 60% of the respondents said hiring has become more challenging this year versus years past. Thirty-five percent said it's about the same, and only 5% said it is less challenging.
Among the things that were cited as making it more difficult: the technological disruption, lack of a centralized way to find talent and dollar-driven employees.
He encouraged conference attendees to review and enhance their interview process to ensure a positive candidate experience, with a well-defined structure, appropriate stakeholder involvement, and effective storytelling about the organization's mission, culture and growth opportunities.
He also encouraged them to explore broadening candidate pools by considering diverse backgrounds, experiences and age ranges, rather than strictly adhering to narrow criteria such as years of experience or specific industry backgrounds.
He said there also is value in implementing strategies to build a talent pipeline and maintain a strong candidate bench, even when immediate openings are not available, to facilitate smoother hiring processes and improve long-term workforce planning.
