Indeed tackles virtual recruiting with new hiring platform

Employers have mastered the transition to operating remotely during the pandemic. But building their workforce virtually is the next hurdle employers are facing as they make plans to rehire this year.

More than 80% of employers plan to hire in 2021 and 41% say virtual recruiting has been challenging, according to Monster. To simplify this process, job searching site Indeed launched Indeed Hiring Platform, which allows employers to screen candidates and interview them directly through the platform, eliminating administrative tasks like reading resumes and scheduling interviews.

Indeed’s platform has already connected more than 200,000 candidates with employers, says Maggie Hulce, senior vice president at Indeed. The goal is to shorten the time it takes to get candidates into jobs by making the platform a cohesive experience for both parties.

“The pandemic was really disruptive for both job seekers and employers,” Hulce says. “If you think about it from the job seeker perspective, there were a lot of challenges that only got more acute.”

Coming off a year of layoffs and high unemployment rates, recruiting is a top priority for organizations. With more than 10.1 million people still unemployed as of February 2021, and the pandemic prompting workers to stay remote, employers are left to redefine their hiring strategies.

Read more: These 10 HR and recruiting firms are hiring in 2021

“A lot of [companies] have talked to us about the need for automation,” Hulce says. “Now, the challenge is that recruiters already have so many tools that they have to deal with.”

Indeed’s platform joins a growing list of organizations tackling virtual hiring challenges. The Org — a professional community website that allows employers to publish free public organizational charts — launched a new recruitment platform called Jobs where employers can publish job openings for free, and job seekers can utilize the site’s organizational charts to see who their supervisors and coworkers might be before applying for a role.

Although the shift to automation was accelerated by the pandemic, it wasn’t the trigger, Hulce says. The Indeed Hiring Platform was created to address larger issues within the hiring landscape that predate the pandemic, such as bettering candidate application experiences and diversity and inclusion.

Read more:How technology can enable more diverse recruiting

Remote work has made it easier than ever for employers to recruit a talented and diverse workforce from anywhere, which will play a critical role as organizations make strategic business decisions for 2021 and beyond.

“At the beginning, people thought remote work is never going to work,” Hulce says. “ People have come around to realizing that it actually can work for many roles. I think clients are realizing that if you're going to have a remote workforce, that has to be part of your equation.”