Dive Brief:
- Companies are taking more time to hire job seekers "in the current environment," according to the Feb. 10 results of a survey by global staffing firm Robert Half. A third of employer respondents said they are taking more time to make a hiring decision, even though they have access to a broader talent pool.
- The change may create backlash for some employers; job seekers tended to say they lose interest in a position after waiting two weeks to hear back from an employer after an initial interview.
- Employers may suffer other consequences, too. Nearly 50% of job seekers said they ghost employers when they feel they've been strung along. And 41% said they would blacklist a company that took too long to respond to them.
Dive Insight:
The results of the Robert Half survey appear to directly conflict with earlier research. Software company Criteria, for instance, found that the COVID-19 pandemic sped up the hiring process, making it easier for employers to find and hire high-quality candidates.
Some employers may agree that the coronavirus accelerated time-to-hire, as virtual hiring strategies grew in popularity. In fact, 60% of companies in an October 2020 Robert Half survey said they shortened their hiring processes and implemented remote hiring practices as a result of the pandemic.
The virus caused a handful of companies to shorten their hiring timelines drastically to keep up with demand. Walmart, for example, condensed its hiring process, which normally takes two weeks, into a 24-hour window. "We've reduced much of the time by eliminating formal interviews and written job offers, and expediting our screening process," Walmart Chief People Officer Donna Morris told HR Dive in March 2020.
For employers that find themselves among those reporting languishing hiring timelines, they may turn to the strategies companies used when navigating the pre-pandemic job market that was decidedly employee friendly. Experts previously recommended employers re-engage prior, promising candidates to speed up the recruitment process and build a candidate experience that is transparent and engaging.
