The quits rate is why your req is stuck
3.2 million people quit their jobs in June. Same as May. Same as April.
BLS put that out on August 4. The quits rate came in at 2.0% for the third month running.
That one number explains my week better than any layoff headline.
The whole board is frozen
Here's the rest of that report. 7.4 million open jobs. 5.3 million hires. The layoffs rate held at 1.1%, unchanged across industries.
So people aren't leaving on their own, and they aren't getting pushed out either.
That's a market where the person you want is sitting in a job that's good enough. They took the raise last spring. Or they're waiting to see what the fall brings before they do anything.
Either way they're not scrolling jobs at 9pm, and your InMail is landing somewhere nobody checks.
Why the search feels different
The req reads the same as it did last year. The pool underneath it never refreshed.
The search string that pulled 40 good profiles last year pulls the same 40 this year. 38 of them are exactly where they were the last time I called.
Meanwhile the people who do apply are mostly the ones who got cut, and they're all competing for the same handful of openings. There are good people in that group. It's a different pool than the one a hiring manager is picturing when they say "just post it."
What still works
I stopped starting with the search string.
The warm list goes first now. Past candidates, and referrals from people I've placed. Specifically the ones who took a different offer 18 or 24 months ago, usually under some pressure, and are far enough in now to know whether it worked out. That group will take a call. Most recruiters never go back to it.
And the phone. Someone who ignores 3 InMails will pick up for a person they've talked to before. That's just how people work.
The pitch has to shrink too. A person who isn't looking has no patience for a job description. Role, comp, and one specific reason it beats what they've got, in about 5 sentences. Longer than that reads as a template and gets deleted.
If you're hiring
58% of employers told Robert Half this month that finding skilled people is harder than it was a year ago, and the quits rate is a big part of why. Fewer people are moving, so the few who will move are usually talking to more than one company.
A 3-week gap between interviews costs you more in August than it did in January. Same goes for a comp range you won't put in writing.
If you're staying put
That's a defensible call. Just know that a 2.0% quits rate cuts both ways. The people who would normally be competing with you for a good opening are sitting still too.
One ask
If you've got a search that's been open 60 days and the applicants aren't right, reply and tell me the role. I'll give you an honest read on where those people actually sit and whether the pool exists at your number.