Practically every aspect of human existence has been impacted by the novel COVID-19 virus, including the way we work. Sad to say, we’re almost used to it now. But it’s not over yet: the second wave of COVID-19 is just around the corner.
The economic uncertainty induced by the outbreak has forced many tech companies to fire a huge percentage of their workers. This lead to spikes in unemployment rates that rival The Great Depression.
Now more than ever, recruiters need to come up with solutions to mine the talent pool in the technology sector. Recruitment hacks, if you will.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the impact of the second wave of Coronavirus on tech recruitment. You’ll find out what to expect, and how to prepare your tech hiring processes to deal with the changes.
In numbers…
Since March, the tech industry has cut more than 79,000 jobs in the United States and beyond. The layoffs keep piling up every day. Startups and publicly traded companies across Europe are also downsizing their workforce.
According to Eurostat, the unemployment rate in Europe rose to 7.4% in May 2020. It is expected to reach 9% by the end of the year. According to a European survey of 832 tech companies, 40% of technology firms are freezing most of their tech recruitment.
Yes, the global economy is in a grisly state. Still, some tech companies have managed to keep their operations going. They are still hiring as usual or at an elevated rate. The numbers don’t lie:
Amazon is increasing its staff strength by 175,000 to help handle a surge in orders. ByteDance, the Chinese startup behind TikTok is looking to hire 10,000 new workers. Sitel Group is looking to fill 10,000 remote job positions. The on-demand grocery startup, Instacart is hiring 300,000 more employees.
Meanwhile, Google has announced that it’ll be slow hiring. Other tech giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Apple haven’t revealed any intention of cutting jobs.
The numbers speak for themselves. Now, let’s see our 10 predictions.
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Jump to a section:
- Uncertainty on both sides
- More layoffs = new, disruptive technology?
- Increased focus on cutting down expenses
- Changes in benefits packages
- Even more emphasis on work from home culture
- Remote vs relocation
- More demand for cybersecurity roles
- New tech hiring processes
- Rise of new first-rate employers
- Increased focus on critical skills and roles
Embrace these shifts in the hiring industry to continue finding the best talent. Read on to find out how.
1. Uncertainty on both sides
Since the pandemic began, more candidates have been reluctant to change their jobs. Active job-seekers send out the most applications. Why? These candidates were either unemployed at the start of the Coronavirus outbreak or lost their jobs because of it.
People don’t want to risk giving up the safety of their current jobs in uncertain times. Which is understandable. This means that recruiters will have a much harder time finding qualified candidates, especially for positions that require relocation.
Many countries are yet to open their borders so moving abroad is an incredibly difficult and exhausting exercise. Most passive job seekers will be unwilling to undertake such a grand change at a tumultuous time like this.
Companies are also facing a great deal of uncertainty and fear about the future. There has been a 50% drop in the number of companies posting new tech job listings since March.
Many businesses have instituted a hiring freeze to save costs. Others will probably layoff workers and ride out the waves of the pandemic with a skeleton crew. You’ll find all sorts of solutions in the hiring scene.
In other words, uncertainty is the new normal.
2. More layoffs = new, disruptive technology?
Good things can come out of this situation, too. Yes, the second wave of the virus might be accompanied by a new wave of hiring freezes and job cuts. But this could result in some tech talent staying at home and working on new, interesting projects. Cool, right? It gets better.
A lot of them will explore the breadth of their creativity and talent, and create disruptive technologies in the process.
For instance, tech ventures like Uber, Dropbox Inc, and Airbnb emerged from the throes of the 2008 financial crisis. Today, they’re one of the most profitable brands in the world.
Adversity is often the mother of invention. There’s no saying what kind of fresh ideas these talented developers might come up with. Many of them could use this unfortunate period to acquire more professional skills and improve their value.
In this regard, the ongoing crisis might have a positive outcome for tech recruiters. Companies that manage to survive the second wave of COVID will have a more interesting and innovative talent pool to pick from.
(and end users will devour the new stuff)
3. Increased focus on cutting down expenses
Due to COVID, many companies have had to make adjustments to their recruitment process. Naturally, you have to follow suit, too.
You also need to invest in appropriate tools to help streamline your processes. From sourcing and selecting candidates, it’s a complex job. But someone’s gotta do it.
The right recruiting software will make your hiring process a breeze. Even if you’re not actively recruiting right now, you should be spending time building your talent community. This way you’ll have a healthy pool of interested candidates to choose from. But where to start?
CodersRank takes all the stress and complications out of tech recruitment. We have already done the work of sourcing and evaluating candidates. All you have to do is go through candidate profiles, select the best match for your needs, and reach out to them. All of which is super easy through CodersRank!
If you’re looking for a reliable sourcing and recruiting solution that helps you save time and energy and cut back on spending and extensive job advertising, CodersRank has you covered. Curious? Book a quick demo today.
4. Changes in benefits packages
Another impact of the second wave of Coronavirus on tech recruitment will be the transformation of employee benefits.
Companies are re-evaluating what they include in their benefits packages. Larger corporations like Microsoft and Google are already offering extended parental/family leave. This is great news, but not every company can afford flexibility to this extent.
According to research conducted by Gartner, 32% of organizations are replacing full-time employees with contingent workers. Non-standard work models like this provide companies with wiggle room to offer fewer benefits. This means unpaid vacations to workers who are not in full-time employment. These companies are hoping to save costs and introduce increased flexibility in their workforce management.
Previously trendy office perks like stocking up on coffee, free lunches, sweets or vitamins are no longer required (or significantly reduced). With almost everyone working from home, this is no surprise. This change is not only a budget-conscious decision: the Nespresso machine is now a health hazard with coworkers pressing the same buttons over and over.
Will these treats be replaced by other means to support the work-from-home personnel? It’s possible. Some companies are already doing it: in the form of weekly food credits, WiFi cost sharing, or new computer hardware.
5. Even more emphasis on work from home culture
Since the pandemic began, many cities have been on lockdown. Many businesses had to switch to remote work overnight in order to maintain productivity.
Although unplanned, this switch has transformed work culture as we know it. Some companies like Microsoft and Twitter have fully embraced the remote lifestyle. Some of them allowed their employees to keep working from home indefinitely.
More companies are shifting to remote work and placing less emphasis on staff members being physically present in the office. Managers are learning to trust their employees. People are eager to do good work, even if it’s from home. Who knew, right?
There are businesses that have managed to keep growing during COVID-19. They will need to hire more help to handle the additional workload. This means, they’ll have to find the right talent—candidates that already have experience working from home before the pandemic.
Hire people who can already collaborate effectively while working remotely. Ultimately, your client will spend less time on employee training and time management apps.
6. Remote vs relocation
Another solution that you can employ to combat the effect of Coronavirus on tech recruitment is to hire remote workers. As long as their work permit allows, they can be from anywhere.
After the pandemic is over, you can then try to relocate these remotely hired developers. Why is this a great tactic? Firstly, it would allow you to recruit the best developers from around the globe. Secondly, your network of talent will go borderless: a great advantage for future assignments.
Just imagine. When the world returns to normal, you won’t have to scramble for candidates. Instead, you’ll be working on finalizing the relocation of your employees.
7. More demand for cybersecurity roles
Due to the virus, more people are working from home with fewer security measures. Compared to their office, the defenses on their home networks may be weak or non-existent. As a result, they are more susceptible to malicious and harmful cyberattacks.
Cybercriminals have been exploiting the global disaster to engineer tens of thousands of hacks and phishing attacks. What can be done about them?
More serious companies will start thinking about investing more in protecting their cybersecurity.
This means that there’s going to be a surge in the demand for cybersecurity operatives. You need to keep an eye out for candidates to fill those positions. This is especially true if you’re an independent recruiter who recruits for a variety of roles. And wait, there’s more.
Cybersecurity firms will likely be needing more experts to join their ranks and keep users safe from security threats. A lot of work coming your way!
Demand is also on schedule to increase in data science, artificial intelligence, software engineering, marketing, and sales.
8. New tech hiring processes
Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, tech recruitment had the flexibility to hire virtually. All you needed was a decent laptop. With the second wave of COVID-19 around the corner, even more emphasis will be placed on virtual processes.
(maybe time for a new laptop?)
Since in-person interactions are now non grata, you won’t be able to attend any events live. Long gone are career fairs, hackathons, conferences, and other events where you can meet with prospective employees. Instead, you can set up digital talent acquisition events to fill your hiring pipeline with quality candidates.
Embrace virtual recruitment. You’ll be surpised how easy it will be to find and hire diverse talent from all over the globe.
Therefore, to create a powerful recruitment process, you need to implement new strategies for sourcing and evaluating potential hires.
- Use social media to post your job openings and promote the company you’re recruiting for.
- Organize virtual job fairs and industry events.
- Use recruitment tools like CodersRank. You can source candidates based on their skills, location, willingness to relocate, salary expectations, and other job-related criteria. Our algorithm analyses public and private data from various code repositories to determine a developer’s technical background and experience level. Then presents that information for you to see with easy-to-understand charts.
9. Rise of new first-rate employers
Employees in today’s job market are demanding more transparency and better treatment from the companies they work for. And rightfully so. As a recruiter, you’ll have much better luck hiring for a company with a strong employer brand.
Expectations are on the rise. Candidates will judge potential employers by the way they treated or are treating their workers during the pandemic. They are firing employees or slashing their salaries to nothing while they leave upper-management unscathed? No self-respecting person will want to work for that organization.
Do you want to attract top-tier talent? Make sure the company you’re recruiting for openly communicates what it’s doing to support employees in these unfortunate times.
10. Increased focus on critical skills and roles
Prior to COVID-19, most companies emphasized efficiency as the most important factor in hiring. Did it work? At the time, yes. However, this approach left them more vulnerable to crises. Adjusting to the unusual work climate was harder for them than expected.
After all of this is over, we’ll need to come up with a way to minimize the impact of world-shattering events like the Coronavirus. Organizations will need to recruit candidates with cross-functional experience, skills, and training to take up more flexible and adaptive roles. This will enable them to respond better and faster to crisis situations.
Navigating recruitment in the second wave of COVID-19 and beyond
There’s no denying that the impact of Coronavirus on tech recruitment. The job market and the way we hire looks much different than it was a year ago.
The changes we have witnessed so far and will likely see during the second wave of COVID-19 include:
- A rise in remote work
- Increased demand for cybersecurity talent
- Growing uncertainty
- New and improved hiring processes
- Potential job losses
Companies are cutting recruitment budgets, employee benefits, and other business expenses at a steady rate. More of them are recruiting candidates based on their critical skills that can drive the company’s competitive advantage.
To stay on top of your game as a recruiter, you need to be flexible to change. Simply adapt your hiring processes to fit the new normal.
The future of tech recruitment is here and CodersRank can help you take advantage of it. Book a free demo now! Explore ways you can discover, qualify, and engage tech talent (and save a ton of money while you’re at it).
