LinkedIn has launched the 10th annual edition of the LinkedIn Global Talent Trends 2020 report, which highlights 4 key trends that change the way organizations attract and retain talent.
The report looks at survey results from 7,000 talent professionals, platform data, and interviews with leaders to provide insight into the key topics impacting HR leaders today.
This year’s Global Talent Trends report focuses on how empathy is reshaping the way employers hire and retain talent, with companies working harder than ever to understand their employees more deeply, and better serve them. The four key trends of 2020 include employee experience, people analytics, internal recruiting and multi-generational workforce.
Trend # 1 – Employee experience: Companies will work for employees, not vice versa.
Talent professionals say focusing on employee experience (EX) increases retention and productivity, meets high expectations of younger workers, and attracts more candidates in this tight labour market. Top areas under employee experience that need fixing however are compensation and benefits and an increasing need for simplified administrative processes.
In India:
- 95% of talent professionals in India consider employee experience to shape the future of HR.
- 77% of talent professionals in India say they’re increasingly focused on employee experience to increase employee retention
- 44% of Indian respondents feel that lack of leadership’s focus and prioritization is a significant barrier to improving a company’s employee experience
Globally
- 96% of HR and TA leaders say employee experience is becoming more important
- There’s been a 2.4X increase since 2014 of job titles on LinkedIn with “employee experience”.
- 98% of talent professionals in Australia say employee experience is crucial to HR, and are a global leader, followed by the US, Canada, UK, and Southeast Asia.
Trend # 2 – People Analytics Goes Mainstream
Meaningful insights will inform talent decisions at every level of the recruiting cycle, and therefore understanding and capitalizing on analytics is quickly becoming a must-have skill in HR. Companies are applying data to evaluate recruiting channels, identify skills gaps, and assess talent supply and demand. Currently, companies are primarily using analytics to measure employee performance and strategic workforce planning.
92% talent professionals in India say people analytics will be very important in shaping the future of HR and recruiting.
In India:
- 92% talent professionals in India say people analytics will be very important in shaping the future of HR and recruiting (world average is 85%; Southeast Asia (90%) and China (89%))
- 72% of talent professionals in India currently use people analytics for measuring and improving performance in HR operations
Globally:
- A 242% increase globally in HR professionals with data analysis skills in the past 5 years.
- Measuring employee performance, strategic workforce planning, and identifying skills gaps are the most popular People Analytics practices currently in use and in 2025.
Trend # 3 – Internal Recruiting: Your Next Hire Will Come From Within Your Company
Organizations are rediscovering how cost-effective it is to recruit their own people. Workplace learning is also helping to build skills internally so there’s less need to import them from elsewhere. Top ways internal candidates are recruited are through jobs on internal job board and hiring managers reaching out to employees they know. Internal Recruiting matters because: Improves Retention; Accelerates New Hire Productivity; and Accelerates Hiring Process.
In India:
- 96% of talent professionals are placing their bets on internal recruiting to shape the future of HR and recruiting in India.
- 83% of talent professionals in India feel internal recruiting improves employee retention
- 70% of talent professionals in India say employees find internal opportunities listed on an internal job board
Globally:
- 81% of talent professionals agree that internal recruiting improves retention and better retention may be why companies with higher than average internal hiring see their employees stay 41% longer.
- According to LinkedIn data, there’s been a +10% increase in internal hiring since 2015.
- 81% of talent pros agree it improves retention, 69% agree it increases productivity, and 63% agree it retains institutional knowledge.
Trend # 4 – Multi-Generational Workforce: Good Talent Will Be Ageless
Carving out new career paths, offering flexible benefits, developing longevity strategies and promoting informal interactions across generations are some of the ways in which companies are driving a radical explosion in workforce age diversity. While all generations value companies with purposeful missions, it’s Boomers who are most likely to call it a top priority. Gen Z, meanwhile, is most likely to value training—36% call it a top factor when considering a new job.
In India:
- 80% of talent professionals in India agree that having a diversity of generations is an important factor in recruitment efforts.
- 74% of talent professionals in India say their company will focus on recruiting millennials in the next 5 years.
- 77% of talent professionals in India surveyed feel that generational differences in management styles is a significant challenge for companies towards maintaining a multi-generational workforce.
Globally:
- 89% of talent pros say a multigenerational workforce makes a company more successful, and 56% have recently updated policies to appeal to all ages.
- 56% of companies say they have recently updated policies to appeal to a multigenerational workforce.
- Baby Boomers stay 18% longer than the average employee, and Gen Xers stay 22% longer than average (almost 2x longer than Millennials!)