Indeed launches virtual hiring website

Bengaluru: Indeed, an online job website, has launched Virtual Hiring Events (VHE) that aims to help recruiters across the country hire in this new virtual world of work. VHE launch took place around the same time Indeed spoke with nearly 500 employers across 16 sectors and 12 cities, where 47% hired only virtually and nearly 1 in 3 used a combination of virtual and face-to-face hiring methods this year.

In its survey it has been found that 64% employers said that safety was the primary driver for hiring virtually this year.

Indeed's VHE is a virtual hiring solution aimed at bringing ease and seamlessness to a complex traditional hiring process, helping all people to now find opportunities in a safe and efficient way.

"With India being the world's second-largest workforce, it can be a challenge to find the right hire, especially in the middle of a pandemic. In order to succeed we need to acknowledge that the things that matter to job seekers have changed. Employers have to reimagine their recruitment strategies to find better talent and create opportunities for growth. Indeed is constantly innovating to find new ways to improve, adapt and simplify the hiring process and VHE is a step in that direction. All of what we do is with the hope that we can help people get jobs and we are especially proud to have products and solutions for the recruiting market in India," said Sashi Kumar, Managing Director, Indeed.com.

According to Indeed, 31% employers credited virtual hiring for giving them wider access to talent, while another 28% said this approach allowed for flexibility and convenience, a priority for job seekers today. Nearly 1 in 5 employers also said that virtual hiring reduced bias in the recruitment process. Across organization types – large and medium Indian & global companies, SMEs and startups – more than 4 in 5 employers indicate that they started using virtual hiring only during the pandemic.

That said, more than one in four employers (26%) consider virtual hiring a novel and surprisingly effective experience, and another 22% believe that it is the right way forward, even while acknowledging its present challenges. And nearly two in every five employers believe virtual hiring is here to stay post pandemic.

The study further shows that sectors such as BPO/iTes (95%), Media & Entertainment (90%) and Telecom (87%) are embracing new age technologies and hiring mostly through virtual means while sectors dependent upon physical labour such as Construction & Real Estate (98%), Manufacturing (97%), Agriculture (95%) and Retail (93%) prefer face to face hiring methods only. Employers from the Financial Services (91%), Marketing & Advertising (89%) and Healthcare & Pharma (87%) prefer a more hybrid approach towards hiring. Regardless, putting a face to a name still seems important as virtual interviews/video conferencing (29%) emerged as the most favoured virtual hiring method by employers.