At the time of this writing, the global COVID-19 cases count exceeds ten million, with nearly half a million deaths across the world. The United States is among the most affected countries, followed closely by Brazil and Russia. The number of cases notwithstanding, the global health crisis has triggered what many predict will be a recession rivaling that of 2007-2008.
Against this grim backdrop, recruiters and job seekers alike are facing unprecedented circumstances. Unfortunately, with no end in sight, employers need to find better ways to do things, including how they recruit candidates.
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The Recruiting Challenges that COVID-19 Poses
It would be an understatement to say that the Coronavirus has been disruptive. It has upended entire economies and individual lives. For several months, people have been forced to stay at home and venture out to satisfy essential needs only, shopping for food and necessities.
In most countries, only essential services – hospitals, police departments, fire departments, and logistical branches – remain functional. It’s safe to say that the Coronavirus has impacted the way we do business immensely, including, in particular, recruitment. Here are a few key challenges that the coronavirus poses to recruitment:
- Few Businesses are Hiring At All
- Select Businesses Require High-Volume Recruiting
- Sourcing Applications is Getting Harder
- Conventional Recruiting Practices aren’t Working
- Businesses are Looking to Cut Hiring Costs
Read on for a closer look at these challenges.
Few Businesses are Hiring at All
When it became apparent that the Coronavirus posed a pressing and unavoidable issue to the United States, most employers put their hiring on hold. With a hiring freeze in place, most candidates within the talent pool found it difficult to secure interviews. Conversely, many employers were soon forced to lay off or furlough employees when the virus showed no signs of slowing down.
Manufacturing, hospitality, and travel and tourism have been among the businesses hardest hit, and have experienced the most volatility over the past six months. While this certainly means there is more talent available in the job market, most businesses will have difficulty in sourcing quality talent, and developing trust with them amid the uncertainty.
Select Businesses Require High-Volume Recruiting
In spite of general slowdowns in hiring, there are several key industries have continued to hire new employees during the crisis. Industries such as healthcare, title and mortgage, remote working tech, and online learning are facing an unprecedented new demand for their services. In response, these businesses need a higher volume of candidates for key positions to handle the increased demand.
For recruiters, this can be a challenge given the current circumstances and the difficulties it brings to the high-volume recruiting process.
Sourcing Applications is Getting Harder
Even for businesses that are still hiring amid the Coronavirus crisis, it is still more difficult than usual to fill open positions. For positions that were already hard to fill before the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem has only been compounded. Since February 2020, almost all industries have seen a fall in applications compared to February 2019. Why is this happening?
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Changing jobs and careers are important life decisions that people make after a lot of thought and deliberation. Amid a backdrop of uncertainty and rising unemployment, many don’t feel confident enough to make such big decisions. People who still have stable jobs are more comfortable holding on to them, rather than moving to a new employer.
Conventional Recruiting Practices aren’t Working
COVID-19 has hugely impacted how we work and live. Technology has played its part in helping us adjust to this new way of life, whether temporarily or for the long term. Conventional recruiting, for the most part, has to be augmented by creative problem-solving, and businesses need to adapt quickly if they want to hire the best talent.
A review of your recruitment process through the lens of safety and business productivity is one of the best places to start revamping your hiring function. The post-COVID recruiter will have an increased reliance on technology to be able to deliver good talent.
Businesses are Looking to Cut Hiring Costs
Often, in extreme circumstances, cutting costs is the only way businesses can survive extreme challenges. The current pandemic is definitely a scenario that qualifies as extreme. Businesses often have to make the tough choice between survival and trimming their workforce.
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In most cases, the first layoffs happen in business functions that don’t contribute directly to revenue. Hiring and recruiting functions do not directly generate revenue, which is why many businesses may have to look for more cost=efficient ways to manage their hiring needs.
How CGT Staffing Comes In
CGT Staffing is a national, full-service staffing solutions firm, meeting the hiring needs of businesses across a wide range of industries. In a time like the current health crisis, your business needs a staffing partner that can offer creative and reliable solutions to suit your individualized hiring needs. CGT Staffing can completely manage the recruiting process for you, sourcing high-quality candidates for businesses across a variety of industries and disciplines.
Our organization offers a better and more cost-efficient alternative to keeping an in-house recruiting department, allowing you to free up resources for use elsewhere in the business. CGT Staffing leverages both people and technology to meet the current global crisis with agility and adaptability.
