Coronavirus, the current term for wrecking impairment as the damages it has been causing is irreparable.
No matter what we call it coronavirus or COVID-19, its effects on a global level are too high and disastrous. And the worst part is that the situation is turning even more intense.
As per a recent survey, the total number of people affected with this deadly virus are 114,549 and death count reaches 5028. Though the spread of this virus began in China it has reached almost every part of the world. Countries like Italy, France and many parts of Europe have bought strict precautionary rules to stop this virus spread and also implied a lockdown.
According to the deputy chief medical officer of Uk, the number of cases on corona are going to rise in the coming days and the situation will turn even more intense than China. Also people in the UK are strictly regulated that if they find any symptoms like respiratory or viral infections like cold or flu, they need to self isolate themselves and adopt immediate medical treatment.
This is not the case of only UK and Europe but the entire world is taking precautionary steps like these to prevent such deadly situation. On the other hand, coronavirus spread has a huge impact on the economy thus costing huge sum of money. Even many core industries have been badly affected by coronavirus and unfortunately recruitment and hiring sector is no exception.
Several vital steps need to be taken so as to cope up with the current situation. As we are currently focusing on the recruitment sector, here we will be discussing few important but complex hiring strategies to maintain its legacy.
Usage of Digital Tools for Assisting Remote Online Hiring:
Recruitment industry is one such sector which has been ever changing since its evolution. The upgrading this part of the sector has made it one of the important part of any organization. But the current scenario has made it to take up some essential steps to keep going through the hiring process.
The affect of corona has not only impacted recruiters but also job seekers in the same way. Recruiters are adopting modern digital tools to cope up with the situation.
Though the recruitment process has been changed a lot but basic steps of it still remains same like different interview stages and final face to face meetings. When talking upon face to face interviews and direct conversational meetings both job seekers and recruiters are found feeling hesitant and avoiding it.
As per a data analytics tool named waveTrackR, there has been seen a decrease of around 21% in job applications in the month of January when compared to the same month in the year 2019. When talking about the metrics of February the reduction rate of job application has been more than double i.e 47% as compared to February of 2019. This clearly states how job seekers are calming down and moving on with their existing jobs.
On the other hand recruiters are using several online remote tools like Skype, Zoom etc for interviews and are also encouraging job seekers to use such tools to ease their hiring process. Recruiters who hire for remote areas are the ones who are majorly affected by this coronavirus spread. It not only interrupts with the hiring process but also hinders when dealing with clients and business meetings.
The HongKong branch of HSBC has publicized on its career page as “Due to the current situation related to the Novel Coronavirus, we’re leveraging our digital capabilities to ensure we can continue to recruit top talent at HSBC“. Moreover they are also motivating job seekers to digitize the recruitment process and promises complete guidance and support from organization’s placement advisers.
Finally its surely looks like making use of digital tools in recruitment process bring in a new era of hiring.
Recruitment in the Travel Sector:
It is said that the travel sector and hospitality industry that has been badly hit and as per IATA this year’s total revenue cost in the worldwide aviation sector would be $113 billion.
The recruitment in the travel industry is a vital process and competition level in it is cut throat. It is also said that coronavirus has affected jobs of many employees in the travel industry. The popular travel partner Xpedia has fired around 3000 of its employees due to economic crisis caused by COVID-19.
Moreover many organizations like easyjet, virginiatlantic have paused their recruitment process for short period of time. And the resuming of the hiring would depend upon the economic situation and coronavirus affects worldwide.
Long term Work Culture Change:
Change is an inevitable thing specially when it is related to any procedure or any long term process. And the hiring process is the perfect example of it, be it the internal stages of recruitment or dealing with business client meetings.
The COVID-19 has pressurized almost everybody to bring in a change in their working style. Though many countries like Japan, Italy, UK , India etc have taken precautionary steps like closing in educational institutes, entertainment places, malls, and every other place where there is a chance of public gathering.
Most of the IT companies have been imposed work from home option to their employees thus helping them avoid any kind of serious COVID-19 issues.
This not only helps people to bring in great change in their work culture process but also can help in stopping the coronavirus spread and saving the complete mankind from such deadly issue.
There are also many cases where employers are bringing in flexible teams to avoid any kind of hindrance in their work process. Surprisingly this process is working well and can be a new trend in the work culture.
Promotion of Remote Working:
As discussed above change in the work culture has been a important step that had to taken due to severe coronavirus issue. The promotion of remote working has been a great change in the working process of organizations and has also seen great results and increase in productivity.
Moreover there are many countries like UK and Japan who do not promote remote working kind work culture but due to the severity of COVID -19 they are forced to take part in such working process to defend this deadly situation.
Also a lot of traveling related to business have been reduced due to this remote working procedure. This can not only help in defending COVID-19 internally but also safeguarding other territories who are affected alike.
Now its unfortunate that many industries have been affected negatively due to coronavirus and the damage it has done till now is very high. Though We cannot make sure on how long this would go on , but smart ways and following procedures advised by public administrations lead by government can help everyone being safe and secure.
Possible Recruiting Impacts From the Coronavirus Scare:
The coronavirus scare has been one of the biggest ones which none have seen in the recent years. The damage it is causing is nothing less than any natural calamity. Moreover in some of the countries the situation is similar to after war zone and in some other parts even worst.
Coronavirus or COVID-19 has caused a drastic impact on the economy and many countries are hit badly. It is not only a deadly virus costing human lives but also has hit almost every business. There are many employees who have lost their job due to the cost cutting which directly deals with economic slowdown caused by coronavirus scare.
Though it all began in China but soon the intrusion of this virus has spread in almost every country. Some countries like Italy are exceeding in death counts more severe than China.
Several industries have hit worst and the recruitment sector is nothing exceptional. Employment sector has been and is still undergoing a negative phase. Saying this does not mean that its only limited to job seekers but even recruiters and hiring managers are experiencing its impact.
Even though we have seen several diversity up-gradation in the hiring process in past years but the current hiring efforts which are been taken due to coronavirus scare is more of precautionary steps rather than diversity efforts. Now both of them work well for bettering the recruitment process but the later one is a mandatory step than need to be taken.
The global recruitment industry is striving hard to cope with the current situation by adopting several steps like allowing employees to work remotely, work from home options etc. Several companies have taken temporary suspension from their businesses.
The most unfortunate thing is that there has been no medicine yet for this coronavirus and the only thing is to take precautions to stop its spread. No matter what coronavirus scare has negatively affected the recruitment industry.
Few Negative Recruiting Impacts:
Bringing in diversity and making use of modern technologies is the best possible way as of now to avoid any kind of hindrances that disturbs our work. It’s true and works well irrespective of any industry.
Reduction in hiring due to ongoing fear:
The scare of this virus has been increasing day after day so several job seekers and even recruiters have temporarily reduced recruitment. But still there are few recruiters who are making recruitment possible through remote hiring processes and its working well but less in number.
Hiring in few companies has turned as a issue:
Though the global recruitment industry has been very negatively, newer methods are being adopted in hiring to make it successful. But there are few specific countries where the recruitment sector has come to an halt. Moving on with the hiring in such countries would turn out to be very problematic and risky. Now the best way to deal with this situation is to temporarily pause the hiring process and bring in new methods until everything gets settled down.
Business related commute is impossible:
Unlike earlier people are strictly warned not to travel to other places for hiring or any kind of business related meetings. This not only helps themselves but also can prevent the spread of this deadly virus to a great extent. So the best way is to avoid traveling instead make use of technology like video interviews, trying tools like skype and zoom etc.
Discrimination may arise in hiring:
Now hiring is not completely stopped and several ways are being tried to keep the process of recruitment work. But an unknown discrimination may come up especially for people who belong to countries where the coronavirus has hit worst. This can be termed as precaution but sounds unfair to some extent.
Discrimination in screening resumes:
Screening resumes of job applicants is very important process in hiring. But due to the current scenario the resumes of applicants belonging to specific coronavirus hit regions are screened out.
Utilizing public events to attract best talent is not possible:
The organizing of any type of public events is strictly banned by the government and moreover is very risky. The chances of coronavirus spread may increase in such public gathering places.
Reduction in number of job applications:
Due to the ongoing coronavirus scare the number of job applications from job seekers for any job position or vacancy has been reduced drastically. This would go on to continue till the conditions get back to normal as earlier.
Greeting others in the way of handshake a complete NO-NO:
Greeting when meeting someone especially when entering an interview is a common etiquette that need to be followed. But in this prevailing critical conditions avoiding handshake is the best thing they can do. This is not only good for job seeker but also for the interviewer as well.
Recruiter can get affected directly:
If the recruiters follow the common stages in hiring like face to face interview or any group interview, the chances of them getting affected is very high. So the best way to avoid this condition is to make use of remote working or try video interviews if necessary.
Hiring process may be longer than usual:
Though there are several stages involved in the common hiring process especially when vacancy is for any senior professional, the hiring process goes on longer and this is very common. But in this critical condition prevailing globally the hiring process may take longer time than usual hiring especially when hiring is done remotely or when remote applicants are approached.
On-boarding problems for new hires:
Due to the present conditions, new joiners who are expected to join the organization soon may experience few on-boarding issues from the employer side.
Setting up a helpline:
As the coronavirus scare is increasing day by day there may be several questions rising up among employees, job seekers and even recruiters . So it is very helpful if the employer sets up a special hotline for solving their queries and also publish a special FAQ page in their website.
