Blog Post

Corporate recruiters all over the world are depending on their online hiring platforms and automated systems to produce the people they need as the global staffing shortage worsens. These instruments will fail them far too frequently, eliminating many capable workers in the process.

The hiring paradigm that many firms have relied on for years has weaknesses that the current labor market has revealed. Government statistics show that while there were 10.4 million job opportunities in the United States in August, 8.4 million people were unemployed and actively looking for work at the same time.

This labor market imbalance is caused by a variety of factors, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made matters worse, but decades of improper HR automation have surely played a part. A blind area that “hide[s]” millions of qualified and motivated individuals has unintentionally been created by hiring procedures designed to draw in large numbers of applications.

How to reach hidden workers

Overall advantages are obvious, but how can businesses adjust to tap on this diverse group’s talents and what are some prevalent pitfalls? To connect with workers they’ve systematically overlooked, companies must:

Reconsider outdated, unrealistic job descriptions. Seventy-two percent of the businesses questioned admitted to recycling old job descriptions for middle-skills positions. 38 percent of those surveyed indicated they used the same or slightly modified job descriptions for high-skill professions. Regularly updating job descriptions to reflect the fundamental abilities and experiences needed to thrive in a role and removing outmoded or extraneous requirements will assist avoid prematurely dismissing otherwise qualified applicants.

Put inclusive filters in place. ATS systems heavily rely on “negative” filters to narrow down the application pool, such as “rank candidates who have not held a job for six months” or “exclude candidates without college degrees.” Employers would increase the diversity of their applicant pools if they used “affirmative” filters to identify candidates with the fundamental abilities and background that are known to be associated with success in the position.

Emphasize the importance of hidden workers. Rethinking how businesses treat hidden workers in terms of bottom-line business strategy rather than corporate social responsibility would also be advantageous. To engage the staff they already have, employers might discuss the justification and business case.

Select a group of covert employees with complimentary skills. Companies may decide to concentrate on the hidden workers who are best suited for their jobs given the diversity of these individuals. For instance, healthcare organizations might think about hiring caretakers. They can then collaborate with organizations and social entrepreneurs who help those hidden employees to identify and fill skills shortages that are common to that group.