With staff shortages still impacting a variety of accounting, audit and finance-related occupations, we’re firmly in the midst of a talent war. While rebuilding the talent pipeline will take time, there are steps organisations can take now to stay competitive.

These three TED Talks offer practical, forward-thinking ideas to help businesses find and retain talent.

1. How Your Company Can Gain a Global Talent Advantage

Run time: 12 mins

What it’s about: according to innovation and migration strategist Johann Daniel Harnoss, the success of WhatsApp can be attributed in large part to the diversity of its team – what one employee describes as a “mini United Nations”. Having access to a broad range of perspectives has enabled the company to build a global product that accounts for the needs of users everywhere.

In his TED Talk, Harnoss highlights the advantages of hiring global talent. He argues that migration can offer a significant strategic advantage for both businesses and national economies. Contrary to common belief, he suggests that visa issues are rarely the real barrier to international hiring; cultural resistance within companies is more often the problem.

Harnoss showcases organisations that have successfully embraced international recruitment and stresses the crucial role leadership plays in driving this shift.

2. How to Retain Gen Z Talent

Run time: 18 mins

What it’s about: the average baby boomer (born between 1946–1964) stayed in the same job for more than eight years, whereas the average gen Z (born between 1997–2012) worker stays for just two – an even shorter tenure than millennials (born between 1981–1996). This high turnover poses a major challenge for businesses. Yet studies show that, under the right conditions, gen Z employees would be willing to stay in their roles for five years or more.

Economics student Andrei Adams outlines what these conditions are. Some are unsurprising and common across generations: paying employees well, treating them fairly and helping them feel that their work has purpose. But other themes are more exclusive to this cohort: having flexibility to choose how, where and when they work, making the office a place worth coming to, and providing a clear path for growth.

Adams offers practical strategies for creating these conditions in the workplace, helping businesses retain their youngest workers.

3. 5 Hiring Tips Every Company (And Job Seeker) Should Know

Run time: 8 mins

What it’s about: many companies still rely on outdated hiring practices. Talent strategy expert Nithya Vaduganathan shares tips to modernise how companies find talent – starting with writing job ads that list only essential skills and adjusting screening criteria accordingly.

She also recommends tactics that deviate from traditional hiring practices, such as micro-internships, which can help companies reach hidden talent they might otherwise have overlooked. In addition, Vaduganathan warns against “talent hoarding” – emphasising the importance of allowing employees to move on if they’re not getting the career advancement opportunities they crave.

With so many roles now requiring new skills, Vaduganathan says businesses have the perfect opportunity to rethink how they find and attract the right candidates.