Better Work for All: Indeed FutureWorks 2022

On October 12-13, Indeed hosted an annual client event FutureWorks in New York City to provide practical insights on preparing for the future of work. Employers and business leaders around the world joined together with Indeed CEO Chris Hyams and other Indeed leaders to discuss the outlook for work and reaffirm the importance of a future where everyone can find a better job.

CEO Chris Hyams: three initiatives for better work for all

At Indeed, we believe that work is as important in life as family and health. However, more than ever before, recent technological innovations as well as the global outbreak of COVID-19, war, inflation, and the looming recession are forcing us to change the way we work. In his keynote speech “The Future of Work is Now," CEO Chris Hyams explained that he wants to realize a future where everyone can find a better job. Chris introduced three Indeed initiatives to help job seekers not only survive but thrive during times of disruption. These initiatives include: "see where things are going," "help people get hired faster," and "breaking down bias and barriers”. As a service provider, it is natural for Indeed to evolve our products. However, as a leader in the global HR market that operates services with 300 million monthly unique visitors, we have strongly expressed our commitment to creating a better environment for both job seekers and employers while taking initiative to improve the market as a whole.

Initiative 1: see where things are going

Indeed and Glassdoor are two of the world's leading research organizations on the global work environment, operating the Indeed Hiring Lab and Glassdoor Economic Research, respectively, to stay ahead of global trends. Svenja Gudell, Chief Economist at Indeed, previewed a joint study conducted by Indeed and Glassdoor on trends influencing the way people will work in 2023 and beyond in her session, “A Look Towards Tomorrow: Economic Trends to Watch.” Svenja noted that post-2023 trends are about ”bringing humanity back into hiring.” With an expected decline in the number of workers, she recommended focusing on the overlooked workforce, understanding and caring for the well-being of existing employees and the environment they want, and emphasized the importance of using technology to pursue efficiency.

Initiative 2: help people get hired faster

“All great products, technology, or transformative inventions start with one thing—people," said Maggie Hulce, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise at Indeed, in her session "The Job Seeker Experience Is Still Broken — Together, We Can Fix It." Maggie discussed the challenges she faced in applying for 50 experimental jobs and realized that the current hiring process is fragmented, intermittent, and demotivating for job seekers. While employers are struggling to fill positions, job seekers are also struggling with the process of finding jobs that match their skills and preferences for salary, location, and flexibility. For example, it is common for job postings to not even mention salary or for candidates to not hear from a company for weeks after applying, leading many to submit applications to a large number of companies and experience repeated disappointments. Indeed recognizes the urgent need to dramatically improve the hiring process by working with employers to eliminate this practice. Indeed offers a number of initiatives to tackle this issue, including requiring salary information and projections in job postings and promoting PPA (Pay Per Apply) as a new alternative to the PPC (Pay Per Click) model. Maggie emphasized that "when employers and Indeed embrace change and work together, we can make the hiring process simpler, faster, and more human."

Initiative 3: break down bias and barriers

Indeed is actively promoting awareness of biases and barriers to employment. As of April 2022, 4.4 million people left their jobs in the U.S., creating a large pool of job seekers; but 11.4 million unfilled positions remained. “In today’s tight labor market, recruiting outside the box has not only become a responsibility but a necessity,” said LaFawn Davis, Indeed's Senior Vice President of ESG, in her session "No Job Seeker Left Behind.” Indeed is currently working to help those who are most likely to face barriers to employment, specifically job seekers with criminal records or without degrees. Talent is widely available but opportunity is not. Indeed is committed to making it easier for companies to recruit from a broader talent pool by breaking down biases and barriers, making the hiring process fair for everyone. This will allow companies to hire the talent they need in a tight labor market while creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace. But this is not something that Indeed can do alone, as LaFawn also strongly encouraged participants that “together, we can ensure that no job seeker is left behind.”

We want to work with you to improve our work and create a better world

The common message throughout the sessions was that Indeed alone cannot solve this great challenge, but that society as a whole must work together to tackle it.
Chris, CEO of Indeed, made the following appeal throughout the event: “Together, we can bring humanity to hiring and build a future of better work for all.”