COVID-19 has been the hottest topic over the past few months – hotter than global warming. It’s a pandemic that’s permeated into the lives of each person. It’s causing disruptions in day-to-day lives and the business world. Our HR community had to rise to the occasion, higher than even the sea levels have. They’ve used their wit and talent to accommodate these trying times. To make it easier for our fellow HR teams, we’ve made a quick list of what they need to know about hiring in today’s trying times.

Remote working is the new norm

This is the most obvious one. Remote working has boomed exponentially and that’s impacted the nature of hiring staff as well. Today, recruiters must be well0equipped to be location-agnostic when it comes to hiring people. This means using the right technology to conduct background checks, interviews, follow-up calls, and more. There are advantages to this. You’ll gain access to talent across a wide geography. You’ll have a wider pool of talent to choose from. Also, it seems that remote working may still be popular even after COVID-19 subsides. An analysis by Gartner predicts that 48% of employees will continue to work remotely, at least part-time, post-COVID-19. 

This means offices and employees have to become technologically-savvy to stay ahead of the game. It also means you’ll want to hire candidates who are digitally dexterous and can efficiently collaborate virtually.

Freelancers and gig employees on the high

The gig economy is higher than soaring temperatures across the globe, but this is good news for many. ASSOCHAM has reported that the gig economy in India will grow at a CAGR of 17% to touch USD 455 billion by 2023. Using the skills of contingent workers gives employers flexibility and helps cut down expenses. A Gartner survey reveals that 32% of organizations are replacing full-time employees with contract workers to save costs.

Just be mindful of the challenges hiring gig workers and freelancers pose – such as applying the workplace laws upon the staff.

Employees will want more social security

The pandemic has made people worry about health and wellness more. Employees will want more done for their safety. Also, remote working has its drawbacks – such as making workers feel disconnected from each other, work from home burnout, and lack of engagement. This has created a focus on emotional wellbeing. HR teams will have to involve themselves more in the lives of their employees and help them stay connected with each other. This will become an essential added task. 

There’s security in mobilizing existing employees up the ladder

When it comes to filling management roles, you may want to embrace internal talent. This will help optimize your processes and keep the heat of a bad hire away from you. Try redeploying talented individuals from a slow area of the business to a high-demand wing, either temporarily or permanently. That way – you retain talent, keep institutional knowledge, give employees room to upskill and innovate the workforce. This helps tackle a tough economy and create loyalty among your employees.

But you’ll need to use the right technology to do this easily and efficiently. Especially if you’re a large company with many employees. You don’t want to waste precious time in confusion or inefficient management. Using technology can help cut down-time in connecting, screening, scheduling, and onboarding candidates. 

HR technology will play a bigger role than ever before

Data-driven processes will become essential in recruitment. Data and analytics will help companies predict patterns and trends from resumes, tests, applications, and even social media. This data can then be compared to other candidates. It offers a clear idea of who is the best fit for the organization. This is efficient, quick, reliable, and will help you select the best candidates in less time.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one more technology tool that will emerge as a cutting-edge tech solution for HR professionals. It will help them sort through immense amounts of data and job applications and streamline their hiring process. One of the innovative uses of AI could be in candidate calling – automate the calling process using AI-enabled technology and allow recruiters to spend their time in more meaningful tasks. When cost-cutting is high on everybody’s agenda in the post-COVID era, and high efficiencies become the need of the hour, such automations become essential.  

These new events have surely shaken up the world. Not taking these into cognizance will create cracks more harmful than the ones in the ozone layer. How prepared are you to tackle the new challenges?