Author Archives: rstenzel

  1. Unemployment Is Up. So Is Hiring Activity…

    Is the curve up? Flattening? What is the impact to lives? And what is this doing to the economy?

    As you watch the news and read the papers, headlines have been grim over the last 8 weeks. The April jobs report was just released, and the news is not any better. Here is what we know:

    • Over 20 million private sector jobs lost, dwarfing the just over 700,000 jobs lost in March
    • Unemployment rates of over 15% will be reported, but upward of 24% unemployment likely exists, according to Neel Kashkari, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
    • April job losses were more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Depression, according to ADP’s National Employment Report

    Despite all this, we at Outmatch have been tracking the inputs to hiring and are cautiously optimistic. Each year, we track hiring activity and data of over 12 million candidates. Over the last 60 days, we have seen a drop in hiring activity, but our data is now showing an uptick.

    Recent Increase in Hiring Activity

    Findings from Outmatch Digital Hiring Platform over the last 60 days

    Our data is showing increased hiring activity in the sectors most impacted by the coronavirus, as well as increased activity in real estate, finance, and business services. The movement up is gradual and there will still be ups and downs, but we thought it was important to share some optimistic news.

    Digital hiring and remote work emerging as trends

    With a focus on people returning to work, we are also seeing a shift in how our clients think about hiring and the work environment. Two trends we are seeing gain momentum are:

    Digital hiring:

    Expected large candidate pools, an inability to bring back all furloughed employees, and a continued need for social distancing are causing us to think differently about our hiring processes and how we bring employees back to work. The questions being asked are:

    Remote work:

    Some organizations went from no one working remotely to everyone working remotely. There was a scramble for processes and technology, but now settled in, we are seeing our workforce is productive and some are even thriving. The change has caused us to ask:

    • Do all our employees need to be in the office to be productive? If no, can I expand my candidate pools?
    • In addition to what jobs work best being remote, what competencies does someone need to be a successful remote worker?

    We have found the data and observations interesting and would love to hear your strategies as you think about hiring and remote work and would be happy to share some of the innovative things we are doing with other clients.

     

    Robin Stenzel
    Chief Solutions Officer, Outmatch