Covid-19 brought about an abundance of changes to our world. We had to create a whole new normal. One that revolved around learning how to work from home while still collaborating with our coworkers. Many people were laid off during this time and left unemployed. As the pandemic is starting to level off, HR managers are now set out to make new hires.
After several years of understanding and adapting to the changes brought by Covid-19, HR managers are still facing new hiring challenges. Many candidates have become resistant to the traditional office-based work environment and conducting interviews virtually has proven more difficult than expected. In this article we’re going to break down the challenges facing hiring managers during the pandemic.
People want to work from home
The primary dilemma facing HR hiring managers during the pandemic is finding potential employees who want to come into the office or building for work. After 2 years of living a work-from-home lifestyle, many people no longer want to have to leave their homes to “go to work”. In fact, several surveys recently showed that an average of 1/3 of employees working at home would rather leave their jobs than go back to the traditional way of working.
HR companies are confined to the policies of their company. If the company is not interested in hiring remote-work employees, it’s going to be much more difficult to find employees. Many people are still in fear of COVID-19 as well, further leading to the desire to stay home.
The virtual interview
Right now, the majority of hiring interviews are being conducted virtually. However, the process still seems to be rather complicated for many HR organizations. Virtual interviews are subject to the difficulties associated with the internet. For example, poor internet connection, computers crashing or batteries dying, time zone miscommunications, etc. This makes it difficult for HR to conduct a meaningful, thorough interview much of the time.
Making the hiring process exclusively digitized
Since HR departments are conducting hiring interviews virtually, the actual hiring of an employee also needs to be digitized. Meaning, HR departments are faced with the challenge of making their employee handbooks and paperwork exclusively digital. This is especially so if they are hiring for remote work as many candidates may be out of state.
Reduced budgets for recruiting
HR departments are continuing to experience budget cuts within their hiring sectors. This is simply due to companies experiencing loss of revenue as the world continues to grow and evolve with the pandemic. These budget cuts are proving to make it difficult for HR hiring departments to bring in new employees who are going to stay. Budget cuts often lead to shorter hiring timelines and a decrease in salary offers for prospective employees. This, of course, makes it difficult for HR departments to not only attract new employees but retain them.
Final Thoughts
The challenges facing HR hiring managers during the pandemic have proven to be rather stubborn. They’re not going away any time soon. People no longer want to go into an office to work. They want to be paid appropriately as well and with budget cuts, this has become difficult. As the pandemic starts to level out, the hope is that people will start returning to the office, but as of right now, these dilemmas are here to stay. HR departments need to find a way to bring in employees and talk to their higher ups to make the changes necessary to do so. Contact us at CRI for assistance in hiring and managing teams, it is more important than ever.