By now, we’re all well aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on businesses, which has been largely negative in most sectors. Companies have been forced to cut down operating costs, reduce employee salaries, and in many cases, even lay off a huge portion of their workforce. In fact, about 52% of firms expect job losses due to COVID-19. There is a substantial impact on new job creation as well. The number of new jobs created has fallen by more than 90% in recent months. But, people can’t just sit at home without any viable source of income. They are forced to find new job opportunities amid job scarcity.
But, this gloomy narrative does not apply to all sectors. The COVID-19 pandemic could be a blessing in disguise for a small fraction of sectors. Healthcare, emergency services, and logistics have seen an increase in demand for workers. So, there may be light at the end of the tunnel. People who are laid off can find job opportunities in these sectors until things go back to normal. Job boards can play a huge role in helping individuals find job opportunities for jobs in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. They can help connect candidates and recruiters easily and quickly, helping both. Here’s an in-depth look at how the job market scenario has changed due to COVID and how job boards can respond to the virus.
Updating their job feeds with the latest jobs frequently
With low job availability being a major concern, it is imperative that candidates find the available jobs quickly and easily. Thus, as a job board, you must ensure that your job feed is always populated with a large number of job postings. To ensure that, you can employ job wrappers. A job wrapper scrapes job listings from multiple websites from across the internet and posts it on your job site. You can employ premium job wrappers that can not only search the internet for job postings but also then categorize, tag, and list these jobs in a structured manner. They can also intelligently fill in any missing details in job listings on the employers’ website. By using premium job wrappers, you can be assured that your job board is updated with the latest high-quality job listings.
Having dedicated sections for jobs in demand during COVID-19
You can have a dedicated COVID-19 jobs portal for jobs in demand during the pandemic period. As mentioned earlier, a small number of sectors have seen an increase in demand for labor due to COVID. By having a COVID-19 hiring portal, candidates can easily find jobs in these sectors. A dedicated section simplifies the job search process and can help candidates and recruiters connect even more quickly. The benefits of having a dedicated COVID-19 hiring portal include:
For recruiters:
- A focused candidate pool
- High-quality candidates
- Tailored job listings
For candidates:
- Relevant job listings
- High-quality job posts
- Reduced time to apply for a job
Sending frequent notifications to candidates
Candidates might not be able to check your job board for new job updates frequently. So, you can send frequent notifications to candidates, based on their preferences and historical data. You can send them alerts about new relevant job vacancies, change in the application status, and other useful information such as content regarding COVID-19 and the job scenario. These alerts can be sent out in the form of text messages, emails, or push notifications through mobile apps. These alerts can help candidates a great deal as they are exposed to new job listings without putting in much effort. They can quickly and easily apply to jobs, thanks to notification services. You can include quick call-to-action links such as ‘Apply now’ within the notification itself to shorten the job application process further.
Providing premium features for free
As a responsible job board that is truly empathetic towards its users, you can provide candidates and employers premium features for free for a limited time, considering the difficult times we are going through. You can allow employers to post unlimited job vacancies. Similarly, you can have candidates apply to as many jobs they want, without any restrictions. You don’t have to look at your job boards as a monetary source in these difficult times. Instead, the only goal of your job board should be to connect employers with candidates and in the process, build customer relationships. And providing premium features for free is one way of achieving that goal. It can also help with branding and create a positive sentimental value for you among recruiters and candidates, thereby attracting more customers.
Leveraging geofencing to connect recruiters and candidates
Geofencing is a location-based service that businesses use to engage their audience by sending relevant messages to smartphone users who enter a predefined location or geographic area. Almost every job board today has a mobile application. Thus, you can leverage geofencing technology to provide users with real-time notifications about nearby job listings. Commuting is a major issue during the current period for individuals who use public transportation. Hence, it will be highly beneficial for such candidates to find new job opportunities as close to their homes as possible. Finding a workplace that is close to home can also help minimize the risk of transmission of coronavirus as people won’t have to spend a lot of time outdoors while commuting to and from work.
Integrating remote hiring features
You can integrate features that can help recruiters and candidates complete the recruiting process within your job board’s ecosystem. You can have tools for assessing candidates’ skills or provide video interviewing functionality to enable recruiters to conduct interviews online via your platform. You can have software developed specifically for your platform or incorporate third-party applications such as Skype or Zoom.
Similarly, you can have email integration within your job board to make it easier for candidates and recruiters to communicate. You can also provide features that allow candidates and recruiters to upload documents and have them signed digitally, all without your job board. This feature can be highly beneficial as candidates can upload documents such as educational certificates and resumes. At the same time, recruiters can send job offer letters that candidates can sign digitally from your COVID-19 hiring portal. Enabling such functionality makes the hiring process relatively easy for recruiters and candidates alike. All the recruitment processes can be carried out by candidates and recruiters from the comfort of their homes. Integrating remote hiring features also helps minimize the risk of transmission of coronavirus as candidates don’t need to step out of their homes.
Providing analytics and reports
You can provide industry insights to candidates as well as recruiters. With data analytics tools, you can have reports generated related to the current job trends, such as jobs in demand during COVID-19, the salaries offered, the jobs that are being preferred by candidates, and other useful industry insights. This information can help candidates and recruiters to make better decisions. For example, candidates can see job trends and apply to jobs that have few applicants. Applying to such jobs can increase their chances of getting hired. Similarly, businesses can use analytics to gauge candidates’ sentiments, such as salary expectations, and make informed decisions that can help cut their financial expenditures.
The pandemic has undoubtedly shaken the job markets across the globe. It has caused a significant shift for jobs in demand during COVID-19. But we can keep adjusting according to the situation to ensure that things keep running smoothly. And our response to COVID is already showing effects. Slowly, we are resuming our business operations and even starting with our normal recruitment processes. And, individuals are finding new job opportunities in these rough times, with some caveats, of course. So the future is to only expected to get better as we start to return to ‘normalcy’.
