COVID-19 - 6 Challenges Staffing Firms Are Likely to Face

Most industries have severely suffered in the ongoing pandemic with a few exceptions, like healthcare, eCommerce, and staffing. Yes, the staffing industry, which employs about 16 million workers each year in the US, has been relatively stable as compared to their peers. About 30% of the staffing professionals have reported experiencing the least possible losses in the pandemic. More than 42% of them say that they haven’t laid down their internal employees during the lockdown period.

While this may be a good sign, the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over and the infection rate is still quite high, the staffing agencies should be prepared for an all-encompassing economic crisis that may be looming over the entire world. They shouldn't sit back and relax but keep a crisis management plan ready to overcome any challenge.

Hence, the foremost thing will be to identify the threats that can hinder their progress. Read on to know the challenges that the staffing firms are likely to face and how they can overcome them.

Increase in the gig economy
The gig economy is on the rise, especially due to the millions of jobs lost in the pandemic. The freelancers already contribute about $1.4 trillion to the US economy, which is likely to increase in the coming months. As a result, the staffing agencies may suffer from a shortage of full-time employees to provide the enterprises with as many of them will be rooting for freelancing and contractual jobs. This isn’t a direct effect of the pandemic, but of the nationwide lockdown for sure.

Increase in remote working trends
The WFH (Work from Home) mode of working is here to stay, and employees are slowly getting addicted to the flexible remote working model. Even though many of them want to visit their offices occasionally, this is a habit that’s going to take a lot of time to change. The staffing industry that mostly hires for full-time workers is going to face a lot of challenges fighting this trend, as they may not have proper strategies in place for this mode of working. The best way to adapt to this change is to extend their services to the remote working employees and contractual workers as well, besides looking for full-timers.

The post-pandemic trauma
The entire world is working on vaccines to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. Many companies in the US are predicting the release of a few of them by the end of this year. However, the fear of the infection has almost paralyzed a huge part of the population, especially the elderly and the people with comorbid conditions.

This mental trauma that has arisen from the constant fear of death will not fade away any time soon. The younger employees with autoimmune, respiratory or other comorbid illnesses are afraid to leave the safety of their homes. Hence, the staffing agencies may find it difficult to get candidates for face-to-face interviews, leading to a shortage of talent due to slower processes and restrictions. The only way to prevent this situation from affecting business growth is digitization. The companies should move a huge chunk of their services online through advanced web and mobile apps and conduct virtual interview sessions.

Slow recruitment
Although most companies have started hiring during the pandemic, the recruitment processes are quite slow, more than 23.8 days, which is the average length of the hiring process in the US. During this time, the potential candidates may ghost the staffing firms, as they find jobs elsewhere, or in the previous company they interviewed. This will be a major challenge faced by these firms, as people are quite impatient these days, and jobs will be available in plenty after the country opens up.

Direct applications by potential employees
The unemployed population is facing financial issues during this time. As many people have lost their jobs, instead of depending entirely on the staffing agency for getting a job, they may choose to find those jobs directly. And as the market opens up, more openings will be advertised on the job portals, which they can directly apply to. At present, people are looking for any avenue to support their families, and chances are, they won’t be too selective about the type of work they get. Thus, staffing companies may face a reduction in the number of candidates in the coming days.

Unrealistic demands of the employers
These are testing times when both the businesses and the candidates are suffering. Each should be aware of the other’s condition to work in complete coherence. If the employers started making demands, like an unrealistic increase in work hours, low wages, wage cuts due to late arrivals, and frequent traveling, it may be difficult for the staffing agencies to find them the best talents from the industry. People are afraid, in need of care and understanding of their situation, and reeling from pangs of economic crisis. Such unrealistic demands won’t work well with them. The staffing agencies should be the middle ground for negotiations and peaceful settlements by making one party understand the troubles of the other and vice-versa.

Wrapping it up
The world of work is changing and staffing companies should be ready for some major changes in their operative procedures to prevent the current situation from affecting their business.

They can tie up with job portals such as Helpwanted.com to get in touch with more candidates, provide them with the necessary information about available jobs, and go the extra mile to convince employers to be flexible while hiring. If all seems well, they can ride out the storm with their heads held high.