The coronavirus pandemic has taken the world by storm and caught almost every industry out there off guard. It is only fair to say that the staffing industry feels the same effects and now needs to figure out how to adjust to the brave new world.
According to the report, the COVID-19 outbreak and the economic downturn it engendered swelled the ranks of unemployed Americans by more than 14 million. The situation is not much better in other countries and staffing agencies will face a lot of extra work while trying to match employers with the growing number of talents available in 2020 and beyond.
But what exactly is the staffing industry’s role during the COVID-19 pandemic? How is it supposed to react to the new employment demands and expectations? What are the benefits of working with a staffing agency in these uncertain times?
A lot of questions are still unanswered here, so let’s check each segment separately. We begin with the current state of the staffing industry because it’s important to learn how it goes with and without COVID-19.
The State of the Staffing Industry
Most business owners don’t realize it, but the staffing industry is actually huge. The global staffing market generates around $500 billion annually, which makes it one of the largest industries in the B2B universe.
The figure is closely related to the fact that modern businesses are dynamic and in constant need of a fresh and reliable workforce. This is exactly why the staffing market generates more than 16 million positions per year in the US alone. In the pre-coronavirus era, there were over 20 thousand staffing and recruiting companies in the US operating over 39 thousand offices combined.
The impact of the staffing market on HR and recruiting is obviously immense, but the coronavirus pandemic poses a serious threat. According to the survey, as much as 93% of agencies report a decrease in revenue in 2020, with almost half of them being forced to lay off at least some of their internal employees.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that the staffing agencies will cease to exist. On the contrary, their role is still vital and we will see why in the following chapter.
7 Ways Staffing Agencies Are Contributing to the Business World
Although we can see that the staffing industry is going through significant changes as well, we can’t help but notice that it still plays a major role in the business world. It is almost impossible to assess and mention all of its impacts, but some effects are more important than others. Let’s take a look at the top seven ways staffing agencies are contributing to the business world in the COVID-19 period.
Keep In Touch with Job Seekers
Staffing agencies should know one simple truth – lots of talented individuals are left without jobs and they are afraid that new opportunities will not emerge so soon. Your duty is to keep in touch with job seekers and explain what you can do for them.
A great start would be to define a fresh staffing strategy that takes into account the needs of companies struck by the coronavirus pandemic. After that, you can share the latest news with your clients.
For example, you could reach out to all assignment writers to explain that you are creating new cooperation models with the best essay writing service. Of course, the goal is not to overpromise, but you need to assure job seekers that you are doing your best to solve their problems quickly.
Use all the available channels to get in touch with job candidates, including instant messaging apps such as Viber and WhatsApp. If possible, it would be great to meet them all face-to-face, but our suggestion is to organize a virtual video conference where you can discuss the future of employment and reassure people that not much is going to change despite the pandemic.
Keep Your Team Members Informed and Educated
Your team members will do the hard work by communicating with employers and job seekers, so make sure to keep them informed as well. This tip is actually two-fold because you are expected to:
Teach your own staff how to respond to users’ inquiries in a way that sounds trustworthy and reliable.
Teach them about coronavirus-related procedures that will protect the functionality of your agency.
Keep in mind that your employees represent the face of your agency, which means they have to stay knowledgeable and professional. This is the only way to preserve the agency’s reputation and still look credible in the eyes of a typical client.
We highly recommend introducing the open-door policy and allowing every member of the team to talk with you directly in order to discuss possible work-related problems or misconceptions.
Publish Lots of Online Content
It doesn’t take a marketing expert to figure out that the whole world is going online in the lockdown era, so you ought to seize the opportunity to publish lots of new posts on your website, email newsletters, and social media accounts.
This is extremely important because it will help you to raise awareness and attract new clients. You can write about all sorts of topics, with some of our favorites being as follows:
Reliable information about COVID-19 based on resources such as the WHO
Tips for employers searching for remote workers
Tips for job seekers who lost their jobs recently
However, you should remember that it’s not necessary to go too wide and use every single channel of online communication. A much better idea is to focus on platforms that really matter to your clients because you can find them all there.
For example, let’s say your average client is active on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. In this case, there is no reason to waste time creating and publishing tons of posts for your Pinterest and Instagram accounts. Keep your efforts focused and you’ll make the most of your online communication strategy.
Advise Clients to Master Digital Tools
Online conferencing platforms and other digital services are literally booming these days. For example, Trustradius alone has seen a 400% increase in traffic to the collaboration software category from the beginning of the pandemic. The same goes for other apps and tools because users have to communicate and collaborate remotely.
This is exactly why you should suggest job seekers to begin testing the most important platforms in their respective areas well in advance. It’s a critical tip because job seekers with tech skills will have the upper hand when competing for a new position.
Take Zoom for instance. It’s a simple online conferencing platform, but it proved to be vital during the coronavirus pandemic. The same goes for other – more specialized – tools such as HubSpot, Buffer, Zapier, Shopify, Lander, and many more.
All these tools make online work much more comfortable and productive, so you absolutely have to encourage clients to get acquainted with the most popular platforms and apps in their fields of work.
Focus on Remote Jobs
As the agency, you should now try to concentrate on remote listings because the vast majority of companies will be building a more flexible workforce.
Jake Gardner, a recruiter at the essay writing service, explains that remote positions are the new business norm: “Instead of searching for traditional office workers, companies are now interested in candidates who can work in and out of the office because that’s the only way to keep the business running long-term.”
The good thing about this trend is that you can quickly find lots of highly-experienced professionals on various freelancing platforms. One of our favorite websites is Upwork, a freelancing hub with more than two million remote workers. You can use it to analyze possible job prospects and establish contact with talented professionals who seem to be most suitable for your clients.
Prepare for Online Interviewing
Have you already tried online interviewing? If the answer is negative, you better make the first step and prepare for this type of recruiting procedure. The coronavirus pandemic is threatening everyone and you cannot afford to host dozens of job seekers on-site every day.
On the contrary, the only thing you can and should do is to utilize the power of online communication and conduct interviews in a virtual environment. This is not just an option anymore, but rather a genuine business necessity.
Once again, it is important to have a variety of digital platforms at your disposal because you never know what your applicants might be using. Therefore, we suggest relying on several options such as Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, and Jobvite.
Flexible Scheduling Is Mandatory
Finally, staffing agencies should know that flexible scheduling is pretty much mandatory in 2020. A lot of parents have to stay at home to take care of their children and they cannot afford to do a regular 9-to-5 job.
Employers are well aware of this fact and they will combine flexible scheduling with remote work to attract the most promising talents. A survey shows that nearly 70% of small businesses offer some mode of flexible work arrangements, while 89% of them report better retention rates because of their flexible work options.
You should keep it in mind while filtering job seekers and determining the best matches for a given client.
Benefits of Working with a Staffing Agency in the COVID-19 Era
Now we know the roles of staffing agencies in the pandemic era, but are there any practical benefits of working with them these days? As a matter of fact, there are! We can name lots of advantages of partnering with a staffing company during the coronavirus pandemic, but let’s focus on the most important benefits here.
Time-saving benefits
The first reason to work with staffing agencies is obvious – it helps you save time by speeding up HR procedures. Instead of spending weeks or even months on identifying the best candidates for your positions, you can instantly receive great proposals from your staffing agency.
A wider talent pool
No matter how good your applicant tracking system may be, it can hardly compete with staffing agencies and their talent pools. The difference is growing even bigger during the pandemic because staffing agencies are working with more clients than ever before. If you decide to work with a staffing agency, you can expect to find the most talented professionals for any position whatsoever.
Avoid abundant administrative work
When you cooperate with staffing agencies, you can expect to reduce administrative work to the bare minimum. There will be no job announcements, social promotion, interviews, scheduling, and other activities that distract you from primary tasks and responsibilities. In the age of crisis, this often proves to be pivotal to the success of a company.
Lower turnover risks
Another major benefit is the lower risk of making turnovers in the hiring process. Staffing agencies will propose the best applicants only, so you can count on making the right decision in each case. Besides that, proven candidates will make fewer errors and take less time to onboard.
Your business can adjust quickly
We are currently witnessing an unprecedented pace of change in our private and professional lives, so it’s necessary to adjust quickly and respond to the evolving market demands. For example, a lot of companies started working online because it’s impossible to keep working otherwise. If you don’t have experts in charge of online business and marketing, a staffing agency can help you hire them in no time.
Increase employee retention
You should not neglect the benefit of employee retention. A well-selected candidate is more likely to adapt soon and stay with your team for a long time, which is fundamental if you want to build a sustainable business in the COVID-19 era.
Staffing agencies can help you create a new HR strategy
Finally, staffing agencies analyze market trends and they can assist you in creating a brand new HR strategy.
The Bottom Line
The staffing industry is going through the same changes as other fields of business, but it has a challenging duty to react quickly and help clients recover from recent employment issues. In this post, we discussed seven roles staffing agencies should play during the coronavirus pandemic. Do you think your organization can fulfill these expectations?
