3 Trends in the Time of COVID

Here are three things I’m seeing while recruiting during COVID:

1. Video conference interviews are taking the place of in-person interviews. I am guessing that even after COVID, interviewers will replace initial phone screens with video conference calls. Prior to COVID, only a handful of interviews were conducted by video conference, and I recall having to walk my candidates through the process (how to download the app, where to set up the phone, how to position themselves, etc.), whereas it’s second nature to everyone now. I think post-COVID employers will still schedule in-person interviews for the final round, but if any panelist is out that day, the make-up interview will be by video conference rather than another in-person round.
2. The previously tight candidate market is now opening up. Although there are a few bright spots in this dismal economy (e.g., streaming technologies, life sciences), most places have either frozen their jobs or are actively shrinking their work force. So the market currently favors the companies hiring over the employee looking.
3. Established companies are in the best position to hire now … and will continue to hold that position in the future, so reports The New York Times. Giants like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook have the resilient business models and huge cash reserves to survive the pandemic. And post COVID, “investors expect those companies’ slices to expand” while “smaller companies are widely expected to be the hardest hit.” One money manager told the New York Times, “What you saw in ’08, ’09 was the companies that were able to continue to invest came out the other side and actually accelerated their growth relative to competitors. And I think that probably happens again.”