What are the Recruitment Trends for 2021?

February 25, 2021

No one could have predicted the challenges we would face in 2020. It evoked a lot of changes for the recruitment industry and some of these changes are here to stay. We, at Generations Recruitment, tried to identify these to give you an overview of the important changes. Keep on reading to find out our prediction of the main recruitment trends in 2021.

Hybrid Job Market

In 2021 we will need to deal with a Hybrid Job Market. Baby Boomers will reach their retirement age and leave the job market but at the same time the Corona-crisis caused a lot of turnover by struggling companies. Therefore, we will have many people looking for a job and many open vacancies. The tricky part will be matching the right people to the right job. To do this, a lot of people in the job market will need to be reskilled. To convince these people of a job in another domain, recruiters will need to show them what this job looks like in reality. Traditional hiring combined with reskilling will generate 2 types of people on the job market, hence it is called the Hybrid Job Market.

To deal with this evolving job market, a lot of companies will start using talent pipelines again. Especially in 2021, where competitors are always on the lookout for great talent as well, constantly having qualified people in their database will ensure them of a fast candidate search. The importance of soft skills will grow as well. Communication, problem-solving and collaboration become non-negotiable in 2021. People no longer only need to have the desired technical skills. They also need a set of cross-sectoral skills such as new media literacy, virtual collaboration, responsive and proactive thinking… [2]

Welcoming Generation Z

Just as the recruitment industry got used to millennials, Gen Z will be entering the job market in 2021. They have their own aspirations, demands, way of working and ideas about jobs or the world in general. They are known to value diversity and inclusion even more than other generations. Consequently, employees will no longer accept small cultural diversity initiatives without any weight attached to them. Instead they are looking for integrated initiatives that make an impact, such as diverse hiring panels. Over the past 5 years there was already a big increase worldwide in diversity & inclusion roles and in 2021 this trend is likely to continue. [1] [2] [6]

Another thing this generation is known for is their media literacy as they grew up surrounded by internet and technology. Therefore it is important for companies to pay attention to their online presence. Most of the time before applying for a job, the candidate will look up the company online. Harshly said: if your branding is off, you will lose candidates. Social media recruiting is also a logical step for the recruitment industry and this trend will continue to grow in 2021. But it’s no longer enough to simply advertise vacancies on LinkedIn, proactive engagement with candidates through social media is the way forward. Also platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok are gaining popularity when targeting recent graduates. [3] [4]

Going Digital

During 2020 people were less likely to meet a recruiter face to face due to the pandemic. Recruiters in 2021 will therefore need to be able to assess talent effectively from a distance. This may explain the rising demand for psychometric tests as a standard recruitment tool. Integrating scientifically backed and data-driven psychometric testing will enable you to zoom in on ideal candidates a lot faster. Digital interviews are also here to stay and we will probably see them more often. They are less time consuming and demand less from the candidates. With the right preparation, digital interviews are not a downfall for effective hiring. If you want to find out how to ace your digital interview, click here! [1] [6]

Recruitment Process Automation (RPA) will gain popularity in 2021 as well. A good example of RPA is working with the data of your own vacancy to reach out to candidates proactively. RPA also entails predetermined funnel communication. Think about a candidate completing an action and automatically receiving an email response from the recruiting company. Likewise, Google Cloud Talent Solutions (GCTS) will gain following. Connecting your own career site to the power of Google with SEO could really improve your chances of finding more relevant talents. So, similar to the hybrid workforce becoming the standard, a hybrid hiring process that combines virtual and physical aspects will become the new standard recruitment practice. [2] [4]

Remote Working as the New Normal?

Working from home has become inevitable for many people during the pandemic and is set to become the norm for many employees in 2021 as well and maybe even permanently. Many companies discovered that employees don’t need to be physically present in the office to do their job well. The employees themselves also seem to get used to this way of working. A recent survey discovered that 2 out of 3 remote workers wanted to continue working from home and half would prefer it as their main mode of employment. Candidates will be searching for a job with more flexibility and the exposure to international opportunities it can offer, so recruiters need to take this into account when communicating vacancies. If you want some tips on how to be productive during lockdown, click here! [1] [3] [5]