3 Post-Pandemic Recruiting Challenges and How to Solve Them

After more than a year of uncertainty, the U.S. job market is bouncing back. As a result, recruiters, TA specialists, HR and People Operations teams are facing unprecedented challenges when it comes to attracting and hiring qualified candidates. 

By the end of July 2021, total U.S. job openings hit a record high of 10.9 million. This increase left companies vying for top talent and struggling to retain their own following the outcome of the Great Resignation of early 2021 (a mass workforce exodus that led to millions quitting their jobs). 

Recruiters have found themselves contending with three primary challenges: distinguishing themselves from their competitors, finding qualified candidates, and managing inflexible recruiting processes that haven’t evolved with the new realities of recruiting.

Here’s what you need to know to improve your talent acquisition process in order to adapt to today’s needs.

Challenge 1: Standing out in a competitive job market 

If the Great Resignation was the result of millions of workers quitting their jobs, then the Great Reprioritization is the reason behind it. This should come as no surprise considering that 29% of all U.S. workers reported feeling at least somewhat burned out, and 27% reported feeling a high degree and very high degree of burnout. 

The employee benefits of the past won’t work in the current environment. The rise of remote work means that employees are no longer bound to an office and can have a better work-life balance. And with the focus on diversity and inclusion (D&I) now more magnified than ever, candidates are also considering workplace culture more closely. 

Stand out by pivoting your recruiting tactics to focus on what matters most: the people. As you reposition your company’s culture and benefits, be sure to keep these three post-pandemic insights in mind: 

• Employees want to be a part of a diverse and inclusive team. Research shows that workplaces that prioritize D&I experience higher productivity, employee engagement, and employee retention. 
• Employees want to feel supported and included in the bigger picture. A McKinsey survey indicates employees who feel included in more detailed communication are almost five times more productive and report feeling less anxious at work.
• Employees want more flexibility and a better work-life balance. Whether this means going fully remote or adopting a hybrid work model, meeting employees where they are could make or break a hire. 

Challenge 2: Finding the right candidates  

Hiring the wrong person can be expensive and disruptive. To find the right candidates quickly, be prepared to deploy three strategies: get creative with the search, focus on internal mobility, and connect with passive candidates. Here’s why.     

Referral program success is proven by science. 

Research shows that referrals generate 70% better hires than non-referrals. Not only does this open an amazing pool of candidates, it’s also a way to bolster job applicants since they came in through a relationship with a  current employee. Plus, it’s a cost-effective way to promote your company and advertise job openings. A single share on social media can quickly turn into hundreds.

Reinvesting in existing employees pays off.  

Finding the best candidate doesn’t necessarily mean seeking external applicants. Sometimes the talent you need is hiding in plain sight. Focusing on internal mobility not only saves your company the cost of attracting new talent, but it’s also a great way to reinvest time and money into developing your existing workforce and increasing retention.

Passive candidates are an untapped market. 

Following the pandemic, job security was top of mind for workers. But the shift to remote work coupled with the Great Reprioritization is empowering employees to reconsider their workplaces and make career moves amidst that uncertainty. Since over 70% of candidates are passive job seekers, there has never been a better time to connect and engage with passive candidates.

How recruiters are investing their time

In 2020, recruiters shared that their recruiting investment focus over the next 12 months would be dedicated to: 

Challenge 3: Dealing with process inefficiencies and manual task drudgery 

Process bottlenecks are not only a drain on productivity, but they’re also a drain on resources. Inefficient workflows can cost companies up to 30% of their revenue. 

For recruiters, outdated and inefficient processes that cause delays can be especially detrimental to moving candidates through the hiring process. In addition to the internal headaches, they also create additional problems such as causing leads to lose interest and move on.

In fact, a CareerBuilder survey found that 55% of job seekers said they would give up and move on from applying to a job if they hadn’t heard from a recruiter within two weeks of applying.  

Solve your recruiting challenges with Pipefy

In order to stand out in today’s noisy job market and attract qualified candidates, it’s time to deploy new recruiting tactics. Get started by updating your recruiting process with a software solution like Pipefy. 

With Pipefy, you can eliminate time-consuming work by automating manual and repetitive tasks. And with the ready-made recruiting process templates, you can standardize your workflow to help you recruit with agility. 

Less time spent on scheduling interviews, requesting approvals, and sending offer letters means you’ll have more time to focus on the most important things: strategy, speed, and your candidate experience.

Written by

Karina Corona

Jr. content writer @ Pipefy. I write about process optimization, digital tools, and how teams can leverage automation to free themselves from hours of boring, repetitive work.