Hiring trends post Covid 19

The pandemic has touched every aspect of our lives. 
 
Everything as we know it has changed - our social lives, our work lives and simple routines that we once took for granted. 
 
What does this mean for the future of hiring? 
What are organizations looking for?
How is the hiring process or policy changing?  

Skills Become the New Currency

With organizations cutting costs and looking to create leaner teams, there is an urgent need for employees to upskill and stay relevant. 
 
Another emerging trend is the boom of the gig economy, which gives employers options to hire talent on a need or project basis without increasing costs, overheads and staff count. 
Apart from the functional skill sets, employees also need to pay attention to imbibing skills that make them more hireable in these turbulent times with changing business needs. 
 
This might mean being more adept at working from home, being agile, quickly adapting to changes, being self-driven, motivated, being a self-starter and more.
 
To hone their existing teams, organizations like IBM, Novartis and Unilever are building cultures where skills are of central importance. 
 
These organizations are bringing learning initiatives, career and internal mobility to the forefront, together with upskilling of skills and technology to enable people to thrive and move up the corporate ladder. 
 
‘Skills are becoming the new currency at workplaces, ’shares David Green, an executive consultant on people analytics and director at Insight222, a London-based consulting firm.
 
                                                            
 

 

Hiring Might Remain Virtual

As organizations prepare to remain virtual or partially provide flexibility to their employees, hiring, interviewing and onboarding might remain virtual processes. 
 
" Job interviews will largely continue to be conducted virtually," said Candace Nicolls, SHRM-SCP, senior vice president of people and workplace at Snagajob, a Glen Allen, Va.-based online staffing platform that specializes in matching candidates to hourly wage jobs. 
 
"Even for businesses resuming in-person operations, I expect that virtual and automated interviews will instead replace many in-person touch points, helping to accelerate timelines while also providing a critical layer of safety as we continue to observe social distancing rules."
 
                                                                 
  

Increase in Internal Hiring

 
With recruitment budgets decreasing, companies are likely to ramp up internal hiring. Some of the benefits of this include increased engagement, lower costs, shorter hiring processes and improved retention rates. 
 
This is likely to become an essential corporate strategy. 
 
"Our data show that employees stay 41 percent longer at companies that hire internally compared to those that don't," Mark Lobosco, vice president of talent solutions at LinkedIn.
 
This could also include referral programs and re-hiring programs. 
 
                                                                         
  

Recruiters Learn & Upskill

With the needs and challenges of every business changing rapidly, recruiters need to stay abreast with their skill sets and become adaptable and flexible in their offerings. 
 
"We saw recruiters massively increase their appetite for learning as soon as COVID-19 hit last March, more than doubling their normal learning consumption in the following months," said Johnny Campbell, CEO of Dublin-based SocialTalent, a learning platform for recruiters. 
 
"Hot topics included talent advisory training, virtual interviewing, being productive while working remotely, virtual onboarding and internal mobility. Learning how to be better talent advisors is always a popular topic for recruiters, but many more sought it out for the first time as their hiring managers frantically reached out to them with a massive demand for information about the evolving labour market."
 
                                                               
  

 

Remote Working is Here to Stay

One of the biggest changes we are seeing is the increase in opting for remote working even after offices open. 
 
A recent Gartner poll showed that 48% of employees will likely work remotely at least part of the time after COVID-19 versus 30% before the pandemic. 
The lasting impact of Covid-19 on the workforce could nudge organizations to permanently switch to remote working. 
 
Some sectors like the technology and telecommunications industries demonstrate the greatest upside - there is virtually no ceiling for these industries with the potential to transition 90% of the workforce to remote working. 
 
                                                                 
                                                                      

 

Conclusion

As conditions keep changing and organizations find their feet, some of the things that the pandemic brought to us, like remote working & virtual hiring, are here to stay. On the other hand, some softer skills, like motivation and productivity, are being given more importance. 
 
While we continue to find what the new normal looks like, it is important to humanise everyone in the equation and realise that we are all going through the same. 
 
If your business is looking at new hiring methods and is in need of experienced flexible talent for increased productivity and lower costs, then do reach out to us.