The tumultuous 2020 is nearing the end. The global economy is slowly gaining traction and all our eyes are set on the recruitment trends in 2021.

Owing to the ongoing disruptions, many thoughts exist in the minds of companies and candidates alike:

• Will 2021 provide any respite to the job market?
• What shall be the recruitment trends in 2021?
• With the steep rise in work from home culture, what will the candidates expect from their next employer?
• How should candidates still struggling to get their next job after the COVID-19 lay off prepare for their job hunt in 2021?

Fortunately, related reports and statistics look brighter offering promising answers. Let’s move on to take a closer look at the recruitment trends in 2021.

Artificial intelligence and automation will turn indispensable

Automation in the recruitment industry is not a new concept. However, its role will widen in 2021 according to market reports. This is because increasingly more candidates and recruiters will be located entirely in the varied geography because of the work from home culture. 

Right from job posting, resume screening, interviewing the candidate to offering a better candidate experience, recruitment tools empowered with AI are going to rule in 2021 and beyond. This is a game changing aspect from among the recruitment trends in 2021 as it leaves much time for recruiters to focus on human tasks. Hence certainly, candidates must be can expect more AI based interviews. That said, they should be ready to adapt to the AI-based screenings and interviews.

Related: AI will change the face of recruitment. Here’s how.

Gig economy will deepen its roots

Job cuts are becoming common due to disruptions in economy. Hence, professionals are turning to the gig-economy to make sure their income is not much affected. The features such as freedom to explore creative projects and enjoy a promising pay are drawing the attention of a greater number of professionals towards gig jobs.

According to the 10K Salesforce Talent Ecosystem Report, as much as 50% of independent Salesforce consultants are inclined to take their side hustles into full-time entrepreneurship rather than join a big firm.

Companies, too, are considering the gig economy as the best bet to fulfil their work needs. The ability to scale up and the benefit to cut down on expenses is driving companies to choose talent from the gig pool. Experts believe that this trend will witness a rise and will be one of the deciding recruitment trends in 2021.

Related: The Emergence of Gig Economy

Diversity and inclusion will gain focus

The challenges that companies faced due to the pandemic are pushing them to search for talent that can provide out of the box solutions. Recruitment experts feel this trend can boost neurodiversity at workplace, thus paving way for more inclusion. 

According to LinkedIn’s findings, a proactive and structured approach from companies in terms of internal recruitment can help add diversity. To achieve this, companies are carving new career paths to attract talent from all age groups, thus paving way for age diversity.

With almost 89 percent of professionals agreeing that a diversified work environment makes a better workplace, focus on diversity and inclusion is certainly another welcoming one among the recruitment trends in 2021.

Technology-based assessment will reign

With a boom in virtual interviews, recruiters shall rely on skill assessment tools more than ever. Tech tools that help understand the expertise of the candidate precisely will be in more demand in the future.

Related: Tips to ace virtual interviews

Right from pre-assessment to onboarding, virtual interviewing tools will help recruiters at every step of candidate assessment and recruitment.

This means, both candidates and recruiters shall have to adapt to the video conferencing tools and AI-based recruitment software as they head towards the future.

Interestingly, an IBM report stresses that – “A growing group of employers, non-profits, foundations, and technology firms are championing skills-based hiring and providing the tools to support it”.

Hence, no wonder that tech tools-based assessment is on the list of recruitment trends in 2021.

Internal recruiting policies will turn better

LinkedIn Global Talent Trends Report 2020 specifies that internal recruiting is a catch-22 situation for recruiters. Why?

Talented candidates who are keen to take over more responsibilities in another role in the same company are not finding it easier to do so due to various reasons. This is forcing them to leave the company altogether.

On the other hand, HRs are facing a dearth of experts from among the existing employees. Also, by choosing the internal recruiting, there is very little space left for inclusion and diversity in the organization. 

We can expect more companies revamping their formal internal hiring programs henceforth. Hence, this is another interesting wait-and-watch aspect from among the recruitment trends in 2021.

Employer branding gains focus

The whole process of recruitment might look like the companies are choosing candidates. Well, recruitment trends of 2021 tend to differ from this.

Candidates today are more equipped with information about the companies they are about to join. Candidates are exploring all possible ways to learn about the work culture in their new company, Right from their social media profiles to existing employee reviews on job portals and Google reviews, they are leaving no stone unturned in understanding about their next company.

Employer branding gives a positive impression to their prospective employees. By forming a strong brand feel, a company can assure that they will offer a career rather than a job. Thus, as per recruitment trends in 2021, we can expect more companies focusing on their online branding and digital presence to attract the top talent.

Candidate experience comes first

Candidate experience has always remained an undiscounted option to create that first impression on the prospective employees.

Right from paving the warm welcome to the top talent, to the word of mouth of the candidate that may help surface the passive candidates, a successful candidate experience can help the brand in many ways. 

Artificial intelligence will play a role in enhancing the candidate experience. Suren Reddy Katta, the founder of Cloudely, believes that AI-based recruitment apps assist in a great way to cut down on screening time and the turnaround time in responding to the applicants.

Such AI based tools can also offer interactions with a greater human touch, which is a positive aspect to boost candidate experience. GigMinds, the company’s recruiting tool is equipped with many such features. It can help recruiters and companies alike in offering a promising candidate experience, he shares. 

Thus, enhanced candidate experience is one of the recruitment trends of 2021 where AI has its role to play.

Flexibility will dominate

The LinkedIn Global Talent Trends report 2020 highlights that companies that offered flexible work arrangements witnessed 137% higher headcount growth.

A case study from the same report mentions how employees loved to associate with companies that offered flexible roster, job-sharing, and part-time opportunities. 

The whole world acknowledged that the output from WFH style is promising. Additionally, technology giants like Microsoft and Salesforce are crafting more flexible work from home policies. Thus, flexibility in jobs might be one of the major recruiting trends of 2021 to watch out for. 

Recruitment trends 2021: How to prepare?

The future is all for those who are ready to upskill and adapt. Be it recruiters or candidates, the interaction with artificial intelligence will be more than ever. The change in work and recruitment styles is adding workload on every member of the HR teams. Thus, it is indispensable for companies to train their HR teams and invest in recruitment software that will make the whole process of recruitment smoother.

How should candidates adapt to recruitment trends in 2021?

• Explore the jobs in the industries that are actively recruiting. Check all the options how you can align your work experience to the company’s needs. Offer a promising impression that your experience can meet the organizational requirements. 

• Gig jobs witnessed unprecedented demand in the COVID times; reports also suggest that the gig economy will rise in 2021 more than ever. So, explore gig-job portals and enjoy the benefits of the gig style of working to the fullest.

• Be aware of the power of upskilling. Learning new technologies and gaining certifications can open new doors for your career. Though this has always remained a proven idea, this can be one of the recruitment trends of 2021 that will benefit you immensely amidst these tumultuous times.

Related: How to deal with COVID-19 Career Gap in Your Resume?

How should companies equip themselves for recruitment trends in 2021?

• Embrace the power of AI and automation more than ever. It lessens the burden on your teams while boosting the work rate and quality. 

• Passive talent holds immense potential in answering your company’s challenges. AI-based recruitment tools can help you surface such passive candidates who otherwise you might miss on by following regular talent hunt strategies. 

• With flexibility becoming the preferred choice, carving jobs that provide flexibility to your employees can make your brand a desired one. Understand that flexibility will turn into the most sought-after recruitment trends of 2021.

• Changing policies that can invite inclusion, diversity, and promote internal talent can help you evolve into a brand of the next level. A brand is not only about its products, but also the employees’ opinion on it. Thus, drafting employee-friendly policies might turn into one of the recruitment trends of 2021 that companies should not ignore.

• Candidates are being more selective than before. Meaning, you should be quick enough to grab the best candidate that matches your requirements. This might not always be possible especially when you are running on tight deadlines to bring in new candidates. Here’s where staffing services such as Cloudely can help you with. 

• Gig workforce can turn a pivotal source in answering your company’s needs and to catch up with recruitment trends of 2021. Be ready to explore the best of gig talent by collaborating with recruitment solutions such as GigMinds. 

About GigMinds:

GigMinds is a recruiting solution dedicated to providing top talent to companies. It can help your company to match the emerging recruitment trends. With its advanced techniques of artificial intelligence, GigMinds helps companies to find candidates as quickly as 24-36 hours. Your search for full-time candidates or independent consultant ends with GigMinds. 

To know more about how GigMinds helps companies find the best talent in the shortest time, register for free on the website, or reach the team on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.