2020 (HR) Vision: 5 Trends Expected in Recruitment This Year

The outlook in recruitment is evolving because of tech, and analyzing today’s landscape suggests to expect the following to trends to continue this year

In the midst of what’s considered the fourth industrial revolution, technology these days has indeed advanced at an unprecedented pace. Among the results has been the empowerment of both recruiters and jobseekers, where both now expect– if not, are already accustomed to– a consumer-level tech experience in recruitment.

Now while a quick and easy hiring process is what immediately comes to mind, there is more which tech influences in the HR industry and the following are expected to be among the most likely to happen this year.

Employers will continue prioritizing the candidate experience

Among the immediate benefits of the digitization of recruitment have been recruiters reaching more jobseekers than ever by posting jobs online as well as saving time by not having to sort through dozens to hundreds of resumes manually.  This has afforded companies the opportunity to focus their time and attention on other aspects of recruitment, which for many is improved candidate experience.

Following Virgin Media’s famed report about its candidate experience and others that came after, many companies have recognized the value of having a good employer brand, and while they can’t hire every candidate they come across, they understand that they can be unofficial brand ambassadors when they have a pleasant hiring experience.

In an era where purchasing decisions are influenced by a company’s reputation as much as the popularity of its brand and quality of its offerings, those in the know will make sure they are reputed as a fair employer that goes as far as gives good experiences to applicants who haven’t even been hired yet.

Employers will have to offer more flexibility

To be competitive in the hiring market is, for one, to be able to offer work perks that employees actually want or deem beneficial. According to a 2019 survey conducted by the International Workplace Group, among those that top many professionals’ lists these days is flexibility.

Over 80% of the respondents of the survey expressed that they’d opt for a job that came with flexibility over one that didn’t, while 85% of businesses that responded also claimed that productivity actually increased for them due to added flexibility in the workplace.

In this era of digital where work can be conducted from almost anywhere, it can be expected that job candidates expect that working remotely be among the options they have when joining a company. Granted, flexibility will be highly dependent on the nature of each role, as well as the accessibility of the internet and related tools, but more often than not, it will prove to be a must whenever applicable.

Soft skills will continue to be in demand

Skills are currency in the job market and, in this digital day and age where the automation of many work processes continues to loom, soft skills are understandably ones that continue to considerably increase in value.

While most organizations have historically hired for soft skills. But now, teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity, to name a few, have become increasingly important, as these are the capabilities that can’t quite be replaced by automation. Jobseekers themselves know this, with many now teaching themselves to be constantly on the move and getting used to constant learning and working with a myriad of other professionals

Additionally, while hard or technical skills are more than welcome in any business, the pace in which these become outdated as a result of new technologies is faster than ever. This has lead to organizations looking just as much into qualities such as agility, adaptability, and potential to ensure that they have people who are not just fit for their vacancies now, but also for future roles in their company.

Hiring will expand beyond traditional target markets

The shortage of skills that will likely result from the aforementioned fast advancement in technology will indeed see professionals not quite being qualified for jobs as they traditionally were, which will lead employers having to look past the talent pools they are typically accustomed to.

This because job experience will be a little less of a consideration in recruitment, and more attention having to go toward candidates’ potential for growth and their ability to be taught or trained not only as soon as they join the company, but also having to do so on a constant basis.

Employers will also have to continue taking into consideration candidates’ transferable skills– or those which the former thinks will help make it easy for the latter to adapt to the responsibilities of the job.

Companies need employer branding

In today’s competitive job market, employer branding is paramount in being able to attract good candidates. According to research conducted by Linkedin, companies with great employer brands receive as much as 50% more qualified applicants, while also see a similar 50% reduction in their cost-per-hire.

That same research also found that as many as 75% of job seekers take an employer’s brand into consideration before applying, essentially confirming that the right employer branding can be what spells the difference between making a successful hire or losing that candidate to close competitors.

From a company’s careers page and it’s social media presence to reviews from job candidates and endorsements from current employees, employer branding encompasses every touchpoint a person has with the organization. So the challenge is no longer limited to merely having employer branding but also making sure it is authentic across all avenues.

No matter what organizations choose to do for recruitment this year, all tactics will ultimately be dependent on the job market and economy. While the latter can’t quite be predicted, what can be expected is recruitment will continue to be redefined by innovation and technology. Organizations that recognize how this has changed not only how they do business, but also how jobseekers approach employment and their overall careers, can find greater success at recruiting the right employees that will remain for the foreseeable future.

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Kalibrr is a technology company that aims to transform how candidates find jobs and how companies hire talent. Placing the candidate experience at the center of everything it does, the company continues to attract the best talent from all over, with almost three million professionals and counting. Kalibrr ultimately connects these talents to companies in search of their next generation of leaders.

The only end-to-end recruitment solutions provider in Southeast Asia, Kalibrr is headquartered in Makati, Philippines, with offices in San Francisco, California, and Jakarta, Indonesia. Established in 2012, it has served over 19,000 clients and is backed by some of the world’s most powerful start-up incubators and venture capitalists. These include Y Combinator, Omidyar Network, Patamar Capital, Wavemaker Partners, and Kickstart Ventures.

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