The Longevity of Virtual Hiring

In case you missed it, LinkedIn announced in February it will acquire Oribi, an Israel-based marketing analytics company — signaling that virtual spaces in recruitment may not be going away anytime soon.

In the blog post explaining the announcement, LinkedIn chief product officer, Tomer Cohen, noted that its marketing solutions business revenue had grown 43% year over year, pushing the company to buy Oribi. Cohen also mentioned the growing presence of brand building on LinkedIn's company profile sites, Pages,?where 24,000 virtual events being made each week - that's pretty remarkable.

Job Fairs are one example of a deeply in-person event going online but it's also cited as an example of how virtual events widen the net for recruiters who may not find the right hire at physical events for whatever reason.

LinkedIn uses its own data to back up the potential longevity of virtual hiring. As of January 2022, the company reveals it saw a 150% year-over-year jump in annual virtual event creation and a 231% year-over-year jump in virtual event attendees.?

The pandemic has also spotlighted the importance of employer branding. Part of my hiring process is now sharing a brand experience, meaning employers have to take care to craft communications and processes that treat job seekers with dignity and respect.?