Five Major Recruitment Trends for 2021

Jun 9, 2022
Five Major Recruitment Trends for 2021

Unfortunately, coronavirus has imposed itself as the ubiquitous guest of the year 2020. Shocking people and economies, it will also leave its mark, even after the crisis is over, on the job market. No matter what people say, and no matter how fierce the debates are (especially in France), telework has become widespread and will continue to do so, even after the health crisis is over. The world of recruitment has also been affected, and all the ingenuity required to allow hiring to continue has been needed. While there is every reason to hope, especially with the development of the Covid-19 vaccines, what does the coming year hold in store for us? We've chosen to focus on five major trends that are expected to make recruitment news in 2021.

- Technology and artificial intelligence increasingly present

Over the next ten years, more and more recruitment-related tasks will be automated. According to a CareerBuilder survey, 72% of employers believe this to be true. A fundamental trend that goes hand in hand with the growing use of artificial intelligence. This is a great relief for recruiting managers, who still lose an average of 14 hours a week on low value-added (and very time-consuming) tasks that could be automated. This will allow them to refocus on the human elements of recruitment and thus optimize the candidate experience.

- The employer brand more essential than ever

Speaking of candidate experience, the development of digital tools and the mass of information now available on the networks allow it today to be much more selective and to find the company whose proposal corresponds most to its aspirations and values. This is why the employer brand has never been so important for a company. An organization that fails to take care of it will therefore be deprived of the best employees. In the end, this could lead to its disappearance in the medium term.

- Soft skills will become even more important

Is the soft skills/hard skills debate outdated? In any case, the dividing lines are certainly shifting. And soft skills are becoming increasingly important. Technical skills certainly remain important. But creativity, adaptability and the ability to continually adapt are now becoming an integral part of the hiring process. Ninety-two percent of respondents to a Linkedin survey said they value behavioral skills as much or more than technical skills when hiring. However, many have difficulty assessing them. The introduction of psychometric tests, for example, can help overcome this pitfall.

- Video interviews will continue

Covid-19 has brought its share of transformations, including in the methods of recruitment. At the height of the crisis, during the first confinement, many recruitments continued to be carried out via videoconference without any real problem. However, a successful process requiring a minimum of preparation and clear communication before and after is essential in order to manage expectations (both on the candidate and company sides) and to mitigate, as far as possible, any technical problems.

- Localization matters less and less

Whether we like it or not, the health crisis has installed telework in companies on a long-term basis. For many of them, the health situation has given them the opportunity (although often forced and constrained) to accelerate their digital transformation. The technological infrastructure is now in place to support teleworking on a large scale. No longer do you have to live in the London suburbs region to work for a company in London, and a person from Los Angeles can now work from home for a company based in New York And there is more. A Frenchman can now apply for a job with an American company from his hometown.

For talents, as for companies, the playing field has potentially become the whole world.

Let's face it!

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