After over a year of COVID-19's presence and its disastrous effects on global health and the economy worldwide, the job market has seen some steadying. Unemployment levels are much below the astonishing 14.8% we saw in April 2020, and the companies that survived are starting to see some relief. We hesitate to say "normal," but it feels like things are getting back on track.
Such a long time spent in this phase of uncertainty has surely affected the workforce. Remote working became much more commonplace, and this shift has lasting effects on job seekers. The market looks a little different these days, and hiring has changed along with it.
Your local talent pool is pickier
If you aren't open to remote working, you may find your candidate pool smaller than it once was. With the receipt of stimulus checks, many unemployed job seekers can be particular about finding their next position. At the same time, anyone considering a move to a new company may be hesitant to jump ship in an uncertain economy. Besides preferences about their careers, many candidates are still under obligations for home child care or schooling. Taking a new position adds stress and uncertainty, and many workers just won't consider it right now.
What you can do:
In the immediate future, you may need to allow for some working from home to satisfy the needs of the market, or be willing to choose from a smaller selection of candidates. The other solution, a much less appealing one, is to just wait it out. The stimulus checks will stop, unemployment will go back to normal levels, and job seekers will come out of the woodwork once again, willing to come back into an office full time. With the Delta variant, however, this may also be a challenging solution.
Your remote talent pool is larger
Are you allowing employees to work remotely? Great! Your talent market just got a whole lot larger. Even a hybrid model, requiring some in-person presence in the office, allows candidates staring down a long commute to more readily consider the job. But, while expanding your geographic considerations might feel like a relief to a tight candidate pool, you'll need to adjust a few things if this is a new policy.
What you can do:
Ensure you have systems set up to support a remote team. Improve communication, setting up regular check-ins and utilizing programs and technology to keep communication channels open and your team engaged. New-to-remote-working employees report feeling less connected to their coworkers now, so try to incorporate some solutions for the loss of social interaction. Be sure to emphasize your plans to all job candidates.
Understanding how hiring will change is critical to finding solutions to continue to attract the best talent. The pandemic has tested the flexibility and nimbleness of companies, and only the ones able to embrace change will come out on top.