In March, our work world was hit by a tornado called COVID-19. In the blink of an eye, we went from the challenge of recruiting during a 3% unemployment rate to furloughing employees, establishing work-from-home policies, embracing more technology for virtual meetings and other activities, and leading our teams with calm during a crisis.
As we talk with clients and other hiring managers, it’s clear you have your hands full adjusting and adhering to the new company and government policies and scrambling to create work environments that will minimize or prevent the spread of the virus.
As some states begin to loosen Stay Home policies and your company begins to bring employees back into the office, the last thing you might be thinking about is needing a strategy for recruiting during high unemployment. After all, won’t there be plenty of candidates to choose from?
True, but not necessarily a good thing. Let’s look at a few of business consultant Bridget Miller’s thoughts in a recent HR Daily Advisor article about recruiting during high unemployment:
- Individual vacancies may have a higher number of applicants than usual, which may mean it will take more time to qualify applicants.
- There may be more unqualified applicants than usual, as more people are looking for quick work to replace lost jobs. This may also mean that recruiting costs are unexpectedly higher than anticipated due to the extra work involved.
- As time progresses, more and more applicants may have extended periods of unemployment. This does not necessarily mean they’re not great candidates for the job.
- Skills gaps may persist, even with higher unemployment levels. This can be a frustration for employers that wish more applicants automatically meant more skills to choose from—but it may not.
Rethinking Your Recruiting Strategy
What is different this time is that COVID-19 isn’t going away which means this is unchartered territory. There are more obstacles to overcome beyond just recruiting to fill positions.
Our team has decades of recruiting experience under our belts and we have seen these cycles before. Each time we guide our clients in developing dynamic strategies and processes to bring on new talent quickly. We are positioned to overcome this latest obstacle. Let us help you implement a clever recruiting plan that sails across this new recruiting environment.
If you would like to connect and discuss further, please get in touch with our recruiters. We are happy to share our successes and strategies and welcome the chance to work with you.