In what we can call as the post pandemic era, IT industry is being majorly revolutionised. From the work culture getting shifted to work from home, there has been a tremendous change in the hiring scenario as well. Most candidates are looking for companies which offer permanent work from home or the hybrid model of working. To be in line with this demand, job recruitment agencies or staffing service providers have also come up with similar requirements from the industry. Consequently, the hiring scenario in India has witnessed a major shift in terms of finding the right candidate or the mode in which hiring is being done. Here are the ways in which the scenario has changed in India :
Recruitment is done remotely : COVID-19 has forced most of the things to be done online or remotely. So how can recruitment be left behind. Since the pandemic, the recruitment of new professionals has mostly become remote. With remote recruitment, interviews are taking place on video conferencing applications like Teams or Zoom. With this, gone are the days where one had to dress up professionally and spend the whole day at the company premises for the long interview process. Now all aspirants have to do is to be at the comfort of their homes and take the video interview whenever the slot is scheduled. With this, the whole day doesn’t get blocked and candidates can also go about their other work. Although it sounds like a very comfortable option, it comes with its own challenges like technical glitches, network issues or extremely unprofessional behaviour from the interviewees which can lead to rejection of even the suitable candidates.
Increase in number of applications and stiff competition : Due to the high reach to the job seekers through social media platforms like LinkedIn or specific applications like Naukri, Indeed etc, there has been an increase in the number of applications for any particular job. This has subsequently led to an increase in the competition. The scope of the target audience has widened and with that, the number of suitable candidates has also risen. At one point it sometimes seems like there are unlimited number of candidate for a limited number of open positions. Due to this, job recruitment agencies have to sort through a high number of applications.
Employee Referral Programs : This has become one of the critical sources of hiring for most of the companies. Employee referrals ensure the quality in hiring as the employee who is referring someone is confident about the skillset his friend or acquaintance is having and there is something in it for him too as most companies are offering a reward for every referral. Employee referral programs is helpful in overcoming the attrition rate in companies.
Parallel Hiring : With the remote work culture in place, work location is no longer a bound for the suitable candidate. This has allowed companies to conduct parallel hiring for multiple locations at the same time. For example, a vacancy which is open in Mumbai can be fulfilled by a candidate whose home location is Delhi and so on.
The above changes in the hiring scenario in India have become quite prominent in recent times. IT Staffing agencies are constantly receiving a plethora of applications for the job openings and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the right candidate for a limited number of job openings. Job recruitment agencies have to keep up with these latest trends in hiring as the competition even amongst them is becoming stiff as companies are continuously looking out for the most suitable candidates.
