Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) will be a continuing focus area for recruiters, especially because more candidates will make job choices based on their assessment of a company’s visible DE&I commitment, according to experts.

“Companies recognize that they are being scrutinized more than ever by stakeholders and are committing to aggressive diversity targets,” said Dan Schawbel, a bestselling author and managing partner at Workplace Intelligence, a New York City-based HR research and advisory firm. “This year, 70 percent of job seekers said they want to work for a company that demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion.”

Nearly half (47 percent) of talent professionals told LinkedIn that hiring managers are not held accountable for interviewing a diverse slate of candidates. Some experts believe that more recruiters will work to remove arbitrary entry barriers like educational requirements from job qualifications, advocate more for a diverse pipeline of candidates and hold hiring managers accountable for moving those candidates through the hiring process.

“Diversity is a business-critical imperative and one that recruiting can lead,” Lobosco said. “Not only is it imperative that recruiters deliver a diverse pipeline of candidates, but they must also play an important advisory role for the hiring managers they support. This could be through restructuring hiring processes to reduce bias, building diverse interview panels and mandating data-driven reporting against diversity goals.”

Cheryl Roubian, vice president of people at Greenhouse, said more companies are looking for tools to help them root out bias in the hiring process and build systems that promote and develop employees equitably. “This is far from being a new idea, but the confluence of increased awareness, the availability of talent and geographic flexibility will continue to amplify the importance of investing in the right tools to build more diverse teams.

[SHRM 2021]