Unemployment is low and the economy is strong, making it more difficult to attract high-quality job candidates, according to a recent report from job search site Monster^[1].

Of the 400 recruiters surveyed for the report, 62% said their job is more difficult than it was a year ago, and 59% said it was more difficult to attract quality candidates than it was a year ago.

The number of job openings is at the highest point in 17 years, according to the report, and 59% of recruiters said there is a shortage in the skilled labor they require to fill roles. Competition from other recruiters is also a pain point in the process, according to 52% of those surveyed.

SEE: IT Hiring Kit: Programmer^[2] (Tech Pro Research)

These challenges have led the majority of recruiters (83%) to take a multi-solution approach to attract higher-quality candidates, taking approaches including direct outreach to candidates (89%), traditional job ads (88%), posts on company/career websites (84%), and social media advertising (83%). Despite these efforts, recruiters are still only passing 44% of job candidates on to hiring managers.

“Today’s strong economy is increasing the overall demand for talent, so recruiters are under tremendous pressure,” Bob Melk, chief commercial officer of Monster, said in a press release. “That underscores the need for an integrated recruitment strategy spanning the entire candidate lifecycle–from employment branding that introduces candidates to the cultural differences that demonstrate how your company is a great place to work, to social recruiting that targets passive candidates and engagement tools that let you connect via text messaging and chat.”