Predictive Success Blog

What are Hidden Workers?

Hidden workers are not hiding from employers or wishing to be excluded from employment. It’s quite the opposite. Hidden workers are people who want to work and actively seek employment but can’t seem to find any. Hidden workers may fail to find a job due to most hiring managers spotting their lack of credentials rather than what they can bring to the table (their capabilities).

Hidden workers are not categorized as one group of people, as they are not all the same. They include:

• Immigrants and refugees struggling to get hired due to their lack of language skills
• Workers without degrees or certificates unable to find employers that see their potential
• Recovered substance abusers who are never given a second chance
• Older workers filled with decades of experience but are considered a waste of money by many employers

The Need For Hidden Workers

Companies are increasingly seeking employees and continue to struggle to find people with the required skills. Simultaneously, the immense number of hidden workers is growing as they remain unemployed or underemployed. There are an estimated 27 million hidden workers in the U.S (more than 8% of the entire population!), with similar proportional estimations in other countries.

Companies that constantly look for and hire such hidden workers are benefitted, as they report being 36% less likely to face employment and talent shortages than other companies that are not looking for hidden workers. They also found that hidden workers outperform other employees in terms of productivity, attitude, work ethic, quality of work, attendance, and innovation.

Finding Hidden Workers

Employing hidden workers is mutually beneficial for both the employer and the employee and the economy in general. So, how do employers find hidden workers with the right talent, personality, and work ethic for the job? The Predictive Index® Behavioural Assessment™, as delivered by Predictive Success Corporation, provides employers with the necessary data regarding their employees’ and applicants’ drives and needs. This data helps employers make informed decisions about which employee is suitable for the job environment based on their capabilities rather than their certifications, which is crucial for finding hidden workers.

PI Hire™ helps businesses hire best-fit talent confidently and faster than ever using rich people data refined over 60 years by scientists. This data ensures efficiency and accuracy in hiring the best-fit employee for the job, supporting employers to hire the right hidden workers for the job efficiently and effectively. PI also helps remove bias from the hiring process, allowing employers to objectively hand-pick the perfect employee for any job. With such rich and refined data that is efficiently and accurately used, it’s no surprise that 98% of our clients said PI enhances the hiring process. PI’s Match Score system helps employers sort candidates to the desired job target. Match Score automatically scores candidates on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the strongest match), allowing employees to filter out the candidates they may want to focus on first.

About Predictive Success

Predictive Success empowers leaders to optimize workforce performance through proven talent management methodologies, high-performing team-building technology, and collected employee or potential candidate data. To learn more about how you can work with our team, please contact us today.

Sources:

https://www.predictiveindex.com/assessments/

Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent (hbs.edu)