This year has been a bumpy ride for all industries, and the recruitment industry is no different. It’s difficult to predict what will happen with anything right now as Coronvirus numbers have increased again, and lockdown restrictions are coming into force, but what is certain is that the world has changed. The way we live and work has changed, and the way we recruit has also changed, and Q4 2020 and 2021 are new territory for all of us. We’ve taken a look at the trends in staffing and recruiting from this seemingly unpredictable year.
Here’s what we’ve seen.
According to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey conducted earlier this year, not all furloughed workers will return to work:
- 60% of employers say they will bring furloughed workers back full time.
- 19% will have reduced hours.
- 9% will not bring all workers back.
- 12% has not yet decided.
So, how will this affect everything else?
Candidates will seek more flexibility.
According to the survey which asked over 38,000 employers in 43 countries, over half of employers globally are planning to offer flexible work options for the long-term: Employers in Greece, Singapore, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Australia are leading the way in providing hybrid styles of remote working some of the time, while China, the U.S., Poland, Hong Kong, and India are offering the least flexibility to their workforces.
Recruiters will rely more on AI technology.
According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, 72 percent of employers believe that some talent acquisition roles and human capital management will have gone entirely automated within the next ten years. While automation and other digital recruitment trends have been around for a while, new HR automation tools HRIS, recruitment marketing tools, and applicant tracking software couldn’t have come at a better time.
These technology solutions help to find and attract candidates and help convert them into applicants. A recent survey by Modern Hire found that 50% of firms use AI to source and screen candidates and use it to schedule interviews, so any businesses that disregard the advantages of recruitment automation tools will likely lose their candidates to tech-savvy competitors.
Recruitment will be pivotal in mobilizing and changing the workforce.
Unemployment rates are forecast to drop to the 6.6% mark by the end of the year, which means that the recruitment industry will be pivotal in mobilizing the workforce again and offering a heavy hand in helping clients adjust to the new nature of recruiting.
As so much has changed, the recruitment industry will need to help clients adopt new technologies such as video interviewing and virtual onboarding and embrace flexible and remote workforces.
Work will be slow for the remainder of the year.
Much of the work in recruitment for the rest of the year will now be about planting seeds with clients, checking in, adding talent to the pipeline, etc. It’s essential to keep in touch with hiring managers and business owners to see where they’re at and how things are looking for them in the coming months. But be prepared for the work to be slow for the remainder of the year and Q1 2021.
