As remote recruitment and onboarding are becoming standard, COVID-19 is establishing itself as a historic agent of change. The aftermath of the pandemic resulted in the creation of new requirements for some recruitment teams and complete devastation for others. Moreover, this year’s talent acquisition tendencies will surely be influenced by the changes that occurred in 2020. More companies are now focusing on inclusion and diversity while considering internal pools of talent and reaching out to remote candidates.
Virtual Hiring: The New Standard
Considering the risks of virtual recruiting, pre-employment screening has become nothing short of critical. One way to prevent a bad hire is by using the CheckPeople.com background check. Screening saves time and money and ensures your candidates have the skills and qualifications they claim to.
Even when most companies resume in-person interviews, automated and virtual ones will replace many in-person points of touch, offering a crucial safety layer and accelerating timelines as social distancing remains in effect. If the pandemic proved one thing, it’s that remote work is the way of the future.
More Varied Skill Sets
The skills valued by recruiters are also changing. A recent LinkedIn survey showed flexibility is the most appreciated trait in 2021. Among other skills and abilities, recruiters are adding are fine-tuning virtual recruitment, transforming branding, and lending talent data some much-needed clarity. Personal development was the quickest-growing pivot during COVID-19. In the workplace, skills are the new currency that is of top priority for giants such as Unilever and IBM. Moreover, these companies are connecting personalization-enabling technology and skills to career mobility and learning.
Focus on Internal Hiring
Considering the volatility of the current situation, hiring externally is a suitable approach and one that will remain popular over the year to come to ensure flexibility. However, companies seek to build internal talent beyond next year. The results of one study show that half of its respondents expect their hiring budgets to drop in 2021, while two-thirds expect an increase in their budgets for learning and development.
Experts have expressed the opinion that companies will use internal reskilling programs connected to mobility initiatives to build their workforce instead of recruiting externally. The move to internal mobility has several advantages, including shorter recruitment processes, lower costs, and higher engagement. However, improved retention rates may be the biggest one.
As more organizations experience these advantages, internal hiring will become an essential long-term strategy. Learning and development departments and HR will form close partnerships to address skill gaps and understand existing skills better.
Directions of Future Recruitment Policies
Since the start of the pandemic, employees aged 25-54 saw the biggest cuts in their working hours. Moreover, younger people were most likely to be let go. When working on labor market policies, decision-makers should focus on more opportunities for young people to avoid creating a ‘lost generation’ of youth. In addition, priority must be given to mitigating the damage the pandemic has inflicted.
Employment protection schemes such as guaranteed temporary work may have reduced the pandemic’s impact on the labor market to some extent, but there has been no uniform degree of income protection. Creating systems such as permanent short-term employment that organizations can activate at times of crisis is an important measure to structurally adjust human resources.
