How Covid-19 has affected the hiring trends?

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”–  John Lennon 

When around the globe, every country was making strategies to progress, COVID-19 arose.   And, then there is no looking back. The ILO  report describes coronavirus  as the “worst global crisis since World War II”. Pandemic spreads like a wildfire not only killing people but affecting livelihoods too. T

While technologies were aiming to bring the world closer. COVID introduced social distancing and work from home scenarios in the society. 

The economy of every country is at stake. There is no single sector in the market that is not affected by the pandemic.  Industries like medical , e-learning , outsourcing are witnessing new job opportunities. While companies like travel, hospitality, immigration are suffering from job loss.

Pandemic is affecting and will continue to affect the job opportunities of the employees. So, the hiring and recruitment sector is undergoing major changes.

Let’s check new hiring trends due to coronavirus outbreak 

• Hiring and Recruitment Through Virtual Platforms 

According to recent studies, there is a 67% spike in video interviews. While Google sturdy shows, there is a 60% increase in the use of Hangouts Meet. 

As social distancing is a new norm. Virtual interaction for employee recruitment is replacing in-person interviews. Companies are resorting to video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Skype, a. As, they provide both a virtual interview environment and onboarding experience 

Video interviewing tools let recruitment teams connect to candidates throughout the hiring process. Moreover, if you want to hire developer, you can also use code assessment tools provided by these platforms.

Going virtual open up the possibilities for communicating with candidates and sustaining business continuity. 

• Introduction of  AI and robotics in recruitment:

AI and Robotics is the trend in the year 2020. According to a recent report by IDC, “the global spending for AI systems will be around $97.9 billion in the year 2023.” 

Automation increases reliability,  safety, and well being. The introduction of automation doesn’t mean it’s a job-killer . But means it has a capability to deal with a crisis like COVID. 

Using automation software lets workers operate, track, and control systems. Thereby reducing the risk of human exposure to the virus.

Large companies are adopting AI and robotics for their hiring and recruitment process. With the use of automation and technology, scanning resumes, scheduling, and conducting interviews will become much easier. 

• Increments & Compensation Programs 

With the change in the working environment, companies are facing an economic downturn. Thus, companies are changing their increment and compensation policies. 

Most organizations are resorting to performance-based increments or target-based bonuses. Thus, companies are reducing fixed compensation and increasing variables. Moreover, promotions and increments of employees are also on stake. 

According to a recent survey of 7000 US employees, 73% of employees reported that they are suffering from stress due to coronavirus . Pandemic has affected people mentally. And, the future of the hiring and recruitment industry is challenging. 

• Shifting Focus to Current Workforce Competencies 

Recruitment has become difficult during this time of uncertainty. Thus, organizations are shifting their focus on the current workforce. 

To reduce the need for new recruitment, companies are trying to equip existing employees with new competencies. Organizations are conducting mentoring and training programs to help employees learn new skills. Thus, incoming times, employees will have multi-skill sets working across various platforms. 

Instead of hiring new employees, companies are filling the skill gap among existing employees. 

• The rise in Candidate Job Applications

According to ILO research, “25 million people worldwide will face unemployment as COVID paralyzes all industry sectors.”

Hence, companies will see an increase in the number of job applications for particular job positions. According to studies, earlier if there were on average 59 applicants per job position, now it will be 250 applicants per job position. 

As a result, recruiters and hiring managers should have smart recruitment strategies. To tackle large application requests.

• Hiring Recruits for Flexible Job Roles

Organizations will carry out hiring such as candidates can manage flexible job roles. A flexible workforce can manage work from home even after the pandemic is over.  Shifting to such a workforce helps companies to save money by only paying people for the work needed at the moment. 

Companies are also stressing over hiring an offshore development team. As there hiring process is on a timely or project basis. Hiring remote talent is going to be a new trend in the coming future. 

• Cross-industry talent exchanges.

Cross-industry talent exchange let move employees without work to those organizations that have an excess of work  temporarily  . This will support workers in developing new skills and networks.

To summarize, the world is facing uncertainty. The near future of recruitment, and the hiring industry is challenging. According to studies, the pandemic is going to have long-lasting effects on the recruitment sector. Hence, organizations have to prepare themselves to face the future changes 

Guest article written by: Hima Pujara works as Technical Content Writer for YourTeamInIndia. She is Hubspot Certified Content Marketer. She is Tech Savvy . She enjoys writing about topics related to mobile app development , robotics, machine learning, business and technology. In free time, she reads tech articles and listen lots of music.