Professional Service Staffing / Recruiting During a Pandemic
When you look back at the first 3 months of 2020, it seems we have already experienced a decade worth of major events. Here are some of the 2020 headlines: Soleimani Drone Strike / Near-War with Iran, Australia on Fire, Impeachment Trial, Royal Family, Brexit, Kobe and now a Global Pandemic and Stock Market collapse.
Ready for a glass of wine yet? Maybe something stronger? #QuarantineRulesAreAirportRules
So what does that mean for Professional Service Staffing / Recruiting? We are seeing a few trends starting to emerge across a number of industry verticals:
- Most positions that were open at the beginning of March are on hold. We are seeing somewhere between 70-85% of those positions on a temporary pause. Some positions will still accept candidate applies and recruiting professionals will continue to move candidates through the interview process. That said, candidates should keep in mind that Talent Acquisition does not have the authority to execute an offer for the majority of open positions.
- A large number of professionals in IT, Finance, Accounting, Operations, HR, Clerical, Admin, Marketing, etc have been furloughed. One FED executive predicted a 32% unemployment rate in the 2nd quarter is possible. This means that the job market will have many candidates when hiring starts up again.
- A 90 day hiring freeze seems to be the most common initial strategy from HR and Talent Acquisition leaders. Most of our client partners are letting us know that they hope to be cleared to rehire sometime in late June on a large scale. This seems like a long way away for many workers who were affected by COVID-19 but it will be here before we know it.
- Lower paying positions may actually have the smallest active candidate pool when companies are ready to rehire. The federal government boosted unemployment by issuing an additional $600 / week for 4 months. I feel that could prove to be a disincentive for lower paid candidates to get back into the market right away. There are many models where lower paying candidates will actually make much more while on unemployment.
Our team at Aquarius has been looking at this market in a number of different ways. We do think that when hiring starts again, the volume will be astronomical. We are hopeful for a "V" return of the economy but believe a "W" or a U" is very possible. As such, we are building pipelines, networking with candidates and working with our client partners on their strategy for when hiring begins again.
Finally, if you are a Talent Acquisition Professional / Recruiter who really adds value to the market, take the time to speak with those who have had their job affected by this pandemic. You will gain karma points and will help people. Many people who have been furloughed have never had to file for unemployment in their lives. Familiarize yourself with the new rules and regs that are coming out of Washington so that you can add value to your friends, family, and acquaintances.
If anyone has questions or would like to chat about what we are seeing, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or on my cell phone 513.448.5592.
Hope you are well and safe,
Dan
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Aquarius is a Cincinnati Home Grown staffing partner to some of the largest companies in the region. Founded in 2006, Aquarius has active pipelines in IT, Accounting, Operations, Finance, Marketing, Engineering, Clerical, Human Resources, Transportation, Administrative, Customer Service, and Beyond. Being client driven, Aquarius prides itself on its flexibility to consistently deliver value to its clients. We feel it's our ability to deliver value that makes us a partner not just a vendor. Aquarius has the bandwidth to support Direct Hire, Contract-To-Hire, Non Time Defined Contract or Special Projects.