COVID-19 is at the forefront of public discourse and unfortunately shows no signs of slowing down. Recently declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, cities around the world have been shut down and the economy overall has taken a huge toll. Many industries have been forced to pause or vastly adjust their approach in order to survive these abrupt operational changes.
Staffing and recruiting has the potential to be an innovative and adaptable industry. In trying times such as these, agencies have stepped up to the plate to amend their practices as much as possible to accommodate the current climate. The situation is changing daily, so it is hard to say if one method is better than another – but people are doing what they can to monitor and adapt as necessary.
Read on for our insight into the current state of the recruitment industry, its potential future and how Mindscope can help.
Some Industries Are Hurt, While Some Are Flourishing During COVID-19
For most industries, there has been a significant pause to hiring efforts, due to practices of social distancing. Industries that rely on close contact human interaction, such as travel, hospitality, retail and so on, have been temporarily shut down. As long as COVID-19-related policies are in place, they won’t see much action for the next few months.
This is a great time for staffing agencies in those industries to diversify their offering, as well as focus their efforts on improving their business strategies for when their primary industries start up again.
On the flip side, in order to accommodate a huge surge in sick individuals, industries such as healthcare are understandably seeing significant growth. Also, agencies that staff temporary workers such as online shipping and delivery staff may also remain stable– people are still going to be buying goods online during the pandemic. In respect to the heightened importance of online business, supporting increased work-from-home and a general surge of internet usage, the IT sector is predicted to remain healthy.
For agencies supporting these industries, recruiters are advised to increase their online presences in order to stand out from the competition.
Overall, with the global economy put largely on hold, it’s likely that the staffing and recruiting industry is going to experience some downtime, save for a few agencies in specific sectors. However, at the end of the day, keeping job seekers and employers safe and healthy should remain at the top of everyone’s priority list.
The Future of the Employment Market During COVID-19
Overall, traditional staffing and recruiting has been disrupted in noticeable ways. However, this rapidly evolving situation is forcing agencies to adapt in order to survive. Tech expert Larry Dignan speculates that this pandemic may kickstart positive workplace changes that were already in the works. One thing that the COVID-19 outbreak is teaching us is that many business practices can be conducted remotely, thanks to innovative technologies such as virtual video conferencing.
Regarding the staffing and recruiting industry, this means using said technology to interact with job seekers and clients. Though interviews and meetings are currently being conducted virtually out of necessity, it could be speculated that some employment professionals may implement these methods on a regular basis moving forward, depending on their success.
While there certainly are some practices that benefit from face-to-face interaction, keeping up with the changes of technology is especially wise in the current climate – and it’s one silver lining we can find amid this grim situation.
The Best Mindscope Features to Use Right Now
Just like many of our industry peers, the team at Mindscope has adapted our practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have mandated all of our employees to work from the comfort of their own homes but are maintaining regular hours of operation in order to support our customers.
While this may be a quieter time for businesses, it doesn’t mean work has to stop completely. For people that are looking for jobs or looking to hire during this downtime, it is in your best interest to make it as easy as possible for them. Mindscope’s applicant tracking system and its array of unique and innovative features can be harnessed to keep recruiting productivity high and maintain regular communication with job seekers.
Hundreds of Integrated Job Boards
First and foremost, you will need access to candidates that are in need of work. Mindscope’s Global Search, which harnesses the power of our long-standing partner DaXtra, allows user to scrape hundreds of job boards – including Indeed and LinkedIn – based on the parameters of a given job order. The search results will be returned in order of relevance to your key words and requirements! The Global Search feature will also notify you whether the candidates shown are already in your system! This is a fantastic strategy for expanding your talent pool during tough times. Competition for placements right now is high, as many companies are scaling back hiring. In this respect, the speed at which you can find qualified candidates across is critical to your success.
Unified Communication
Now, finding candidates is one thing, but you also need to reach them. Fortunately, Mindscope’s unified communication tools offer everything you need in this respect. The system allows you to send and track up to 500 SMS text messages, so you can reach candidates where they’re spending the majority of their time – on their mobile devices!
While mobile is the most widely used communication platform in 2020, email and voice calls have not lost their place. Mindscope’s Outlook Plugin offers incredible features for streamlining communication and document storage with colleagues and candidates. The Outlook Plugin will automatically track all emails in the database and attach them to the appropriate contact record. It also allows you to click on a document (such as a resume) right from within your email and either upload to database, upload and update a record in the database, upload and attach to a job order, or upload and attach to hot list. As online operations become increasingly important during the COVID-19 outbreak, empowering your recruiters with tools to speed-up their workflow is paramount.
Of course, with everybody working from the comfort of their homes, it stands to reason that more phone calls will be made between contacts than ever before. Our VoIP integration is designed so that, when you receive an incoming call, the appropriate record will automatically pop-up on your screen. This gives you instant access to notes and stored communications, allowing you to launch into a productive conversation without awkward pauses as you try to figure out the relevance of the call!
License and Credentialing Table
As we’re all well aware, healthcare professionals are of the utmost importance for making it through the COVID-19 pandemic. As recruiters, it’s your responsibility to make sure that the healthcare candidates you’re placing are up to date with their certifications. Mindscope’s license and credentialing table allows you to do this is record time, which has never been more important than in the current climate. The table empowers you to only select candidates with up-to-date certifications. It also allows you to set-up automated emails to be sent to candidates, warning them of coming expiries. In this sense, you’re both providing value as well as receiving it by keeping a talent pool that’s legally entitled to work when you need them.
SchedulingTool
While permanent placements may face a short-term decline, temporary work is likely to ramp up. This is especially true in medical, logistics/supply chain, and IT. Having access to a comprehensive scheduling tool will enable you to support these markets quickly and accurately. Among its many innovative features, Mindscope’s scheduler will show you when shifts are waiting to be filled, and which candidates are best equipped to fill them. Combine this tool with the ability to send text messages through the system, and you’ll be able to beat your competition to top talent every time.
Mindscope is committed to remaining a supportive partner during these unstable times by providing exceptional, uninterrupted service to all of our valued customers and clients. Feel free to reach out at any time by emailing us directly or clicking here.
Related Posts
