Recruitment trends 2020

Digging through each resume manually is becoming a thing of the past for large companies. Today, recruiters and other human resource professionals are more skilled than ever in the field of technology, and the workforce is becoming younger and more global.

Recruitment methods are continually developing, the ones used today are not the same as those of ten or even five years ago. This change is undoubtedly inevitable, and that’s why it’s important to keep an eye on the latest trends that will affect the recruitment industry in 2020. Here are four trends that will be at the forefront this year:

The use of AI

One of the main trends, and paradoxes, in human resources these days is the use of artificial intelligence. AI has penetrated the HR and the initial results have been promising. But not to worry, many recruiters and HR managers agree that AI technology isn’t intended to replace human recruitment but to help improve its functions.

Among the various promising results, there’s an increase in transparency and efficiency in the HR teams when implementing AI technology. Unlike people, AI has no bias in the selection of new employees, which makes the application process more transparent. Also, it has been observed that automation of the processes with AI increases the productivity of the HR team and makes the work easier, faster and more efficient.

One of the main factors responsible for the success of AI in HR has been the use of chatbots. These bots can pre-select candidates easily and resolve many of the doubts that applicants often have. If an applicant has any questions about a job description, company details or possible responsibilities, they can simply ask the bot and it will respond within seconds. Fascinating, isn’t it?

Candidate’s experience

Another of the most important trends this year is the relevance of the candidate’s experience during the recruitment process. It’s worth mentioning that, by this, we don’t mean the candidate’s work experience, but the perception that the candidate has during the process.

The “candidate’s experience” is the general perception that current, past and potential candidates have of your company’s recruitment process. It’s based on the feelings, behaviors, and attitudes that candidates experience during the recruitment process, starting from the search, through the selection assessments and interviews, to recruitment and finally hiring.

But why is paying attention to candidates’ experience one of the most important recruitment trends of the year?

The answer is simple: if candidates have a positive experience in your recruiting process, they’re more likely to accept your job offer or reapply in the future and/or refer others to your company. On the other hand, if candidates have a negative experience, it could cost the company more than a few candidates, and it may even lose a lot of money!

Candidates, as well as all those involved in the recruitment process, expect a consumer-level technology experience. Companies that offer good experiences to their applicants are those that attract the best candidates and get more hires.

Remote working

Flexible working hours, home-working policies, and the ease of working from anywhere in the world are some of the characteristics most sought after by employees in today’s jobs, and companies must adapt to the work aspirations of their employees. Remote working has been very popular these days, even before the critical situation that’s being experienced worldwide.

One of the main reasons why more and more companies are allowing their employees to work remotely is that, in this way, they increase their talent pool; since, by hiring remotely, the company opens up a gigantic talent pool that’s not affected by geographical limitations.

Throughout this year we will see an increase in the use of tools and technologies that help recruit, select and manage remote teams, including online assessment platforms such as Evalart, and communication and collaboration tools.

More flexibility

Finally, we have the increased flexibility that the current selection processes have experienced. Offering flexibility as one of the advantages of working in your company can help you gain an advantage over companies that do not offer it.

A competitive recruitment market means offering greater benefits to workers, including a feature that’s increasingly a priority for job seekers: flexibility.

According to a survey conducted in 2019 by the International Workplace Group, 80% of respondents said they would choose the job offer that had flexibility over the one that did not. Also, 85% of companies responded that workplace productivity increased due to flexibility.

Many companies have already begun to allow their employees to blended working, i.e. time from home and time in the office, allowing them to have a better work-life balance and, as a result, better performance from their employees.

Of course, this flexibility depends on the type of work and the technology involved. That’s why modalities such as blended learning are usually more suitable for employees who can work remotely from their notebooks.

However, during the last few months, there has been a significant increase in the number of companies offering blended working and remote modalities to their employees as they’ve needed to implement preventive social isolation due to the rapid spread that the COVID-19 has had.

Conclusion

With the emergence of numerous tools, recruitment methods, and technologies, 2020 will be the year when the traditional recruitment process as we know it will be automatized. There’s no doubt that the workplace of the future will be digital, dynamic, fast, and able to meet multiple requirements with efficiency and transparency.

Whatever recruitment method your company chooses in 2020 will ultimately be at the mercy of the labor market and the global economy. While we cannot predict the future of the economy, we can guarantee that this year’s recruitment will be defined by flexibility, innovation, and technology; and companies that adopt both will be more successful in recruiting the right employees in the long run.