As a staffing industry professional, you know finding the best candidates isn’t easy. Since the economic recession, companies have fewer openings, which means competition between staffing agencies can be downright fierce. You need to ensure your staffing agency rises above the rest. But how?
The video interview can be a great way to give your staffing agency a competitive edge, and ensure you get the clients you need to thrive. You need to stay ahead of the competition and that means finding the best candidates and finding them fast. Companies are looking for staffing solutions, and the video interview can be a great way to cut costs and cut down on time, while never giving up on candidate quality.
What are some of the challenges being faced by the staffing industry? What are some of the major roadblocks keeping your staffing agency from finding the best candidates? Before we look at why the video interview should be on any list of staffing solutions, we first need to evaluate the problems:
The Current State of the Staffing Industry
Like most other aspects of the economy, staffing agencies have been negatively impacted by the economic recession. Many companies just aren’t hiring for as many positions as they did previously. Plus, despite a newly expanded field of candidates, finding highly skilled applicants perfect for the job is as difficult as it ever was.
But it’s not all bad news. In fact, American staffing has led the way in job creation. The industry might be looking for staffing solutions, but it has already played a large part in U.S. economic recovery. Let’s look at some facts and figures:
- Three years after the recession, the American staffing and recruiting industry has created more jobs than almost any other industry.
- While the American staffing industry dropped 1.5 percent in the post-recession years of 2008 to 2012, the industry as a whole still made around $16 billion in revenue.
- In 2012 alone, American staffing firms hired an impressive 11.5 million temporary and contract workers. To put that in perspective, the number of unemployed persons in February 2013 was 12 million.
Looking for Staffing Solutions? How About The Video Interview?
The video interview can actually present a variety of staffing solutions to some of the most common problems facing American staffing firms. Here are some of the ways video interviewing can be used by savvy staffing agencies.
Jumping the Skills Gap
Employers don’t just need any candidate, they need highly and specifically skilled workers. These people, unsurprisingly, are hard to find even in times of high unemployment. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, positions which used to take two months to fill are now taking four times as long because recruiters keep holding out for better candidates.
Video interviews can help by allowing your staffing agency to connect personally much faster than in the traditional hiring process. Instead of endless back-and-forth through email trying to schedule a meeting, you can meet in real time with a live video interview.
This will ensure your staffing agency doesn’t lose out on top talent because your competitors have scooped up the most highly skilled workers while you were still trying to schedule an in-person sit down.
A Temporary Staffing Solution
With employers more skittish in this economy, temporary staffing has seen a rapid growth in importance. Who is at the forefront of this charge to get unemployed workers into temporary jobs? Staffing agencies, of course! In 2012 the industry found temporary staffing solutions for 2.9 million people per day.
Most companies looking toward staffing agencies for help filling temporary jobs are looking to do so swiftly. A benefit of video interviewing is it helps cut the fat out of the traditional hiring process, shortening time to hire.
Instead of an average of 30 minutes on a phone screen with someone who could be all wrong for the job, the one-way video interview allows you to quickly sort through your temporary staffing options. This way, you can hone in on only the best candidates and get this talent connecting with companies eager to hire smart workers.
For companies looking for staffing solutions, video interviewing could be the key to success. Whether you’re looking to connect with candidates in real time or cut down on the temporary staffing process, it’s time to embrace new technology and make great hires!