Boom In Pandemic Hiring: What Do The New Recruitment Methods Have In Store?

0 min read

Boom In Pandemic Hiring: What Do The New Recruitment Methods Have In Store?

Companies around the world were forced to change their way of working, not only adapting hybrid and remote work methods but a new flexible way of working through open talents.

Covid - 19 Pandemic brought in a lot of unprecedented changes. In every industry, in every home, in every country…. changes that revolutionized the way the world works and functions. From schooling for two whole years at home to all kinds of classes being taken online; from working at home to holding court sessions online, we are still adapting to the beast named COVID.

However, the forced experiments with “Work from Home” have resulted in permanent change in the way traditional 9-to-5 jobs were perceived all over the world. When companies realized that not only the costs were cut down in terms of rent premises, electricity and numerous other factors but also employees showed increased levels of productivity, it was realized by both parties that things would never be the same.

Also read | Replying To "How Do You Handle Stress And Pressure?" In A Job Interview

As it turns out, Yahoo Japan has become one of the leading companies to start permanent “Work From Home”. This January, Yahoo Japan told all of its 8,100 employees that they can work from anywhere in the country. The newest policy will take effect from April 1, 2022.

Reassessing Work

It goes without saying that firms have been forced to think along the lines of reimagining their workspaces, environment, and work culture. From returning to the old ways to adopting a hybrid model as Yahoo did in Japan, there has been one more way to handle work i.e. to adopt a flexible or open talent model.

What Is Flexible And Open Talent?

The flexible or open talent method comprises a mixed bag of local freelancers as well as online contributors working from anywhere in the world. Increasingly, companies are also sourcing innovation through online competitions and contests.

However, all of them have one thing in common- they are attached for a brief period of time or on a single project, without forming a permanent attachment to the company. If employed correctly, this will go a long way in helping companies to provide flexibility and achieve higher levels of productivity at the same time.

How Flexible and Open Talent Methods Benefit The Work Culture?

Flexible and open talent methods have the potential to benefit work cultures in the following ways.

Flexibility

Especially after the pandemic, employees are realizing the futility of being stuck in the same job for years. Besides, companies are also more inclined to make variable hirings, scaling up and down depending on the requirements.

A higher degree of flexibility can potentially benefit both employers and employees. It allows employees to work according to their comfort. And on the other hand, it allows the companies to be pliable while choosing the right expertise and also accommodate labor demand variably.

Short term hiring

Many companies are in a position where they can’t afford to hire experts without seriously extending their budget. However, they can hire experts for a short period of time from open talent networks which is much more cost-effective.

Experts are hired for specific projects, depending on the needs and demands of the organization, and the contract expires with the completion of the project. It also provides access to innovative or diverse skillsets beyond traditional recruiting pipelines at much lesser costs.

Application across the Industries

The requirements for specialized skills vary with the industry and the projects a company is handling. As a result, different specializations are required at different times and organizations have to outsource them. Anurag Verma, vice president – HR, Uniphore, explains how the company hires language experts, who specifically come in for fixing the speech-recognition processes in their projects.

“Sometimes, when there is a new language, linguists are required to explain what mood or sentiments mean and how they have to be interpreted,” he says, “Gig workers also get paid more sometimes, even better than the permanent employees because of their expertise”.

Profitability

Clearly, hiring from open talent networks gives greater flexibility to organizations, both in terms of contract length and choice of talents. It allows them to optimize the organization processes accordingly so that costs can be cut down and better returns can be achieved.

“In Europe, especially, gig working has become a very normal phenomenon. Slowly, these models are being accepted by corporations in other parts of the world as well because they have proven to be very profitable for organizations,” enunciates Anil Gaur, CHRO, Akums Pharmaceuticals.

He added, “Since gig workers aren’t bound by long-term contracts, the companies do not have to worry about different kinds of benefits, increments, or even about firing them from their jobs".

Also read | Use Of IIM Tag On Milk Packets: A New Way Of Marketing Products?

All that glitters in not gold

Despite the reasons stated above, this is a new method and is not without shortcomings. For example at Upwork, a leading online labor market, the sales team faced several issues with potential clients. One of the major reasons which came to the fore was the discomfort with remote work.

Getting the right talent at the right time is yet another problem encountered with this model. Companies work within deadlines thus there is a certain rush to get the work done within the stipulated time frame. Sometimes it may happen that the experts which have been sought after are engaged in some other work, resulting in delay.

Conclusion

As they say, the only thing that is constant in this world is change. Things are changing now. In surveys conducted by Ozimek, more than half of hiring managers indicated that remote work has opened up their ability or willingness to utilize remote freelancers. The number of employees interested in these models has also swelled. However, it remains to be seen if the open talent model can overtake the traditional 9-to-5 jobs to become the commonly accepted norm across industries.