Companies Hiring Right Now amid Coronavirus have Changes in Personnel Recruitment and Selection

Ms. Untaru, VON Consulting General Manager, comments about trends in personnel recruitment & human resources in the US

LA, USA., May 6, 2020 - Vivien Untaru, VON Consulting recruitment agency GM, has set up international recruitment campaigns in Central and South-Eastern Europe and recently started in the US. The agency she manages provides recruitment services, hardware design and verification services, IT support and software development for customers in different industries. The team she manages helps clients by building teams on and off site, remotely or on their premises that can assist in ongoing projects or can take on full projects. By bringing in passion for the technical fields and an innovative approach, the VON Consulting team has become a supportive long-term partner for clients’ businesses.


Ms. Untaru, VON Consulting General Manager, comments about trends in personnel recruitment & human resources in the US, in the interview below.

What industries were most affected by coronavirus in the US?
The first to feel the coronavirus impact were hospitality, horeca, travel and retail sectors. Also, the real estate sector registered a slow-down in transactions and, recently, prices started to be more flexible. In March and April, things escalated and these sectors, amongst others, were hit hard and lost jobs to the thousands.

What will be the sectors hiring in the upcoming months?
IT, telecom, online consumer goods, transportation & courier companies will most certainly continue recruiting. 
Industries affected directly by the coronavirus (to mention a few - hospitality, leisure, travel, leisure, retail, constructions) will restructure their employee scheme, but some will be hiring for their online engines. 

What do companies need to keep in mind at this point, as regards to their employees? 
During this time it is important to keep the existing workforce fully engaged and motivated. Many companies can actually design turn-around plans and launch new projects/products, improve processes, design new marketing strategies by involving their employees. In these times, many solutions might come from the people in the field, in direct contact with the customer, able to see day-to-day issues.

How can companies create shared value in their future recruitment processes?
Companies need to engage their current employees in the recruitment processes. Workers with a history in the company should be included in the hiring stages, as well as in the onboarding process. 

How employees or candidates will adapt to this coronavirus impacted work landscape?
Employees and candidates as well are already starting to understand the importance of reskilling or gaining new expertise in digital management of day-to-day attributions, learning to work with new online tools. Companies should include online learning and training, seminars, courses and career exploration in their employee retention and loyalty practices. Companies should provide the means for a safe on-site activity. For those situations, where some of the employees could continue to work from home, shifts could be organized in such a way that only a certain number of employees will be present in the office at any given moment, allowing for proper social distancing. Candidates should also be called in for on-site interviews only in final stages of the process so as to minimize exposure of both team and candidates.

How can companies improve their human resources processes in the future?
First of all, companies need to be more open to online recruitment and online recruitment tools adapted to their profile, as this trend, enhanced by the coronavirus pandemic, will continue to grow in the near future.
Remote working will also see a rise and companies need to make sure they have procedures in place for their employees, in order to generate performance and ensure the day-to-day efficient flow of activity, while also maintaining employee satisfaction.

Will the employee experience continue to be a top priority in HR in 2020?
Yes, only it will suffer some transformations. Employees who are energized by their job are essential to transformation agendas, are more likely to stay, are more resilient and more ready to reskill. Energized employees will choose to work in cultures that are empathetic, in environments they find enriching, and in work cultures that are both efficient and embracing. 

What are the main hurdles that companies need to overcome in the coming months?
Good team-management interactions and better enablement of digital working in times of social distancing. This is where a professional HR partner with expertise can make the difference.

About VON Consulting
Currently, VON Consulting has 3 offices in SEE (Bucharest, Brasov and Cluj in Romania), one in the USA and in the process to open up a new one in Dusseldorf, Germany. VON Consulting has 150 employees and has worked with clients from the EU and US, mainly in IT, telecom, networking and semiconductors industries, some of them Fortune 500.