How COVID-19 Has Affected Recruitment?

COVID-19 is a global issue and hit the UK 8 weeks ago and has changed everything for businesses up and down the country including the recruitment industry. The virus is, unsurprisingly, having a catastrophic impact on businesses and the recruitment industry is certainly not immune to that. Businesses are having to adapt quickly in order to survive and it is very possible that the legacy of COVID-19 may forever change the nature of recruitment and the workplace landscape.

What has been the initial impact been on recruitment?

• The lockdown and isolation policies mean that many businesses have been forced to shut or downsize with uncertainty around their future
• There have been a large percentage of employees furloughed, mass layoffs and a significant reduction in working hours across most industries
• As a result, many organisations have put their recruitment on hold
• For those industries still recruiting, social distancing makes the task more difficult; the process has to be done online rather than face to face
• There are fewer candidates due to the virus, the only active candidates are those who are at risk of loosing their jobs or have already done so
• Agencies can be costly, it may be a significant amount of time before companies start to outsource the process again
• A recent REC survey witnessed an increase in the requirement for temporary and contract workers

What can we expect over the coming months and post COVID?

• Some changes we can definitely expect to see are much of the interview process moving online; greater utilisation of recruitment technology
• A review in employment contracts and employee benefits; availability of flexibility and remote working options making it more attractive for employees to move from one employer to another
• More conscientious spending and frugality with regards to recruiting and using agencies
• Long-term focus on recruitment strategy and budget
• Demand for temporary and contract workers is expected to continue until businesses have confidence in the market

In the long term we will see the industry bounce back because it extremely important to the economy, some industries will recover quicker than others. Ultimately will recruitment ever be the same, in honesty no and we may now see the changes we have been looking for in regards to utilising technology to make the process for businesses more efficient along with flexibility in home working and working patterns. Now is the time to pivot and innovate in order to stay ahead of the market.

We are fortunate that as a business we have been utilising video technology for the last 3 years to recruit for our clients so this is nothing new. We have however utilised this time to focus on how we add additional value to our clients as their needs change moving forwards. We are thrilled to be launching additional services that will make our services accessible for all businesses, watch this space next week for further details on that.

In the meantime please feel free to get in touch with the team on 0333 888 4048.