How do employers rate the benefits of remote hiring?

With news of layoffs and fear of recession gripping businesses worldwide, employers are desperately adopting measures to save costs. As the hybrid model of work gains in popularity, employers are trying to cash in on the benefits of remote hiring, in terms of cost and time saving. Here’s what a market study reveals.

Campus hiring: When it comes to campus-level hiring, employers find that cost saving and time saving are the biggest benefits. The second biggest benefit comes in the form of access to a wide pool of talent and efficiency in terms of processes.

Of the 279 recruiters as well as talent-acquisition and HR professionals interviewed across industries and verticals, 38 per cent said that in terms of campus hiring, the biggest benefit of remote hiring was cost saving. About 34 per cent, of those covered in the market study by HirePro, said it was time saving, while 22 per cent said wider access to the talent pool was the biggest benefit. About 21 per cent felt remote hiring led to better candidate screening time, while 24 per cent said it resulted in process efficiency. A significant 21 per cent admitted to remote hiring being more convenient and giving better experience to recruiters and candidates.

Junior-level hiring: When it comes to junior-level hiring, again, most recruiters and TA/HR professionals admitted to cost saving being the biggest benefit, with wider access to talent pool being the second biggest benefit. About 36 per cent said that cost saving was the biggest benefit, while 14 per cent ranked it as the sixth biggest benefit. A significant 39 per cent rank time saving as the biggest benefit while hiring remotely for junior-level roles. About 33 per cent ranked wider access to talent pool as the biggest benefit, while 11 per cent ranked it as the smallest benefit. About 22 per cent ranked better candidate screen time as the biggest benefit, while five per cent ranked it as the smallest benefit. A significant 26 per cent ranked process efficiency as the biggest benefit, while 25 per cent ranked better convenience and experience for recruiters and candidates as the biggest advantage of remote hiring.

Middle-level hiring: While hiring for middle-level roles, once again, cost and time saving appears to be the biggest benefit of remote hiring, with 33 and 35 per cent of the recruiters and TA personnel surveyed admitting to this, respectively. About 29 per cent said that a wider access to the talent pool is the biggest benefit, while 12 per cent admited that better candidate experience is the biggest advantage. Interestingly, 30 per cent said that better candidate experience is the second biggest advantage and 11 per cent voted process efficiency as the biggest benefit. About 20 per cent voted better convenience and experience for recruiters and candidates as the biggest benefit.

Senior-level hiring: While hiring for senior roles, remote recruitment provides benefits of cost and time saving followed by wider access to talent pool. With geographical constraints being absent, organisations are finding it possible to tap into the otherwise inaccessible talent pool.

What are the biggest concerns in remote recruitment?

A significant 38 per cent of the recruiters, talent-acquisition personnel and human resource people surveyed said that candidates indulging in malpractices during online assessments and virtual interviews is a huge concern. About 30 per cent said lack of human connect in remote hiring is a big concern, while 13 per cent said lack of adoption of specialised remote hiring solutions by managers / recruiters was a drawback. About 17per cent admitted that there were infrastructure challenges at the candidates’ end, while 14 per cent thought lack of employer branding was a concern.

What does the future look like?

It is quite clear that organisations will not revert to the traditional forms of hiring. A good 60 to 70 per cent of employers are of the belief that their hiring process will be either partly or fully remote. When it comes to campus hiring and senior-level hiring, 30 to 40 per cent of the employers surveyed expect that remote recruitment will be very limited or will not exist at all. That means, they anticipate 100 per cent physical form of recruitment.

Looks like remote hiring will continue to be resorted to. With more organisations going hybrid, the phygital form of hiring will become popular, combining the best of both the physical and digital hiring modes. However, it will be essential for organisations to ensure that they adopt the right technology first.