The COVID-19 crisis has upended many of our traditional approaches to even the most simple, everyday tasks, and hiring and searching for jobs are no exception. Social distancing has made traditional in-person interviews a challenge, and in industries needing to fill roles as rapidly as possible, job seekers and employers are looking to communicate and connect however they can.

In this environment, fast, creative problem solving is more important than ever. Job seekers are still searching for jobs and employers are still hiring — and Indeed is here to help. In order to make these connections as fast and efficient as possible, we have added several new features to our products. Let’s take a quick look at what those features are, and what they mean for employers and job seekers. 

At a glance: Indeed COVID-19 product updates

• Considering that unemployment claims have reached historic highs as many businesses slow down or close, many job seekers want to find new jobs right away. They can now easily signal to employers they are available to start working immediately by adding #readytowork to the resume in their Indeed profile. Employers who use Indeed Resume and who need to hire quickly, can search and filter for talent which is ready to start now. 
• As the coronavirus has left many people homebound, we have noticed a dramatic increase in job seeker searches for remote work. So we’ve added a new feature that enables employers who post a job to specify whether their job is fully remote, or only remote temporarily due to COVID-19. This will help match job seekers looking for remote work with employers who can offer it, even if the work is only remote on a temporary basis.
• Even in this time of reduced economic activity, certain companies need to hire a significant number of workers immediately. But in order to protect the health and safety of candidates, employers are having to approach interviews differently. To support a move to completely virtual interviews, we have quickly adapted Indeed Hiring Events to now include virtual hiring events online.
• We are also updating our Company Pages to give employers the option to include important COVID-19 related information they may want to share with job seekers. 

Now let’s take a closer look at the changes we’ve implemented so that employers and job seekers alike can get the most from these new resources.

In order to support job seekers to the fullest, we’ve tapped into the power of Indeed Resume — which includes more than 175 million resumes of job seekers who use Indeed. To indicate to employers that they are available to start work immediately, job seekers can now add #readytowork to their Indeed Resume. 

Employers have always been able to instantly search and filter resumes based on their needs, but they can now also zero in on job seekers who can start work right away with the new “ready to work now” filter. Employers can then message any of the 1 million+ job seekers who have already added the #readytowork hashtag, easily connecting organizations who need a role filled quickly with job seekers eager to get started.

Additionally,  for existing customers whose Resume contacts expire in Q2, Indeed is extending the shelf life of Resume contacts to now have a July 1, 2020 expiration date. 

In recent months, job seeker interest in remote work has increased significantly, with searches for it more than doubling between February 1 and April 6. However, job postings advertising remote work options have lagged behind the interest job seekers are expressing for these types of roles. And even though we know remote job postings were steadily rising on Indeed prior to COVID-19, employers may find that offering remote options is now more important than ever and could continue to be so in the future. 

To make it easier for employers posting a job on Indeed to share that a job can be done remotely, they can now specify that their job is fully remote or only remote temporarily due to COVID-19. 

Employers can take advantage of this new feature whether or not a job is posted directly on Indeed. If a job is posted directly on Indeed, employers can simply log into their account, choose a role to edit, and answer the question about whether the job can be performed remotely when prompted. 

Employers with jobs aggregated on Indeed — meaning they didn’t post the job directly, can add language to their job description that indicates the nature of remote work possibilities, such as “This is a remote position,” or “Work from home during coronavirus.” 

When employers update their job posts with this information, it’s easier for job seekers to find them when searching for remote jobs. Jobs that are temporarily remote due to COVID-19 will now show up in searches for remote work and when job seekers use the new remote search filter to narrow down their search results. Jobs that are both temporarily and fully remote will have a new tag that says, “Remote Work Available” that appears in search results and on the job description.

For employers who need help as soon as possible, the number of job seekers adding #readytowork to their Indeed Resumes is great news. The challenge, however, lies in screening, interviewing and extending offers to a high volume of candidates on a very short timeline.  

We’ve already been working on helping employers with many openings hire quickly, through Indeed Hiring Events — where employers can conduct interviews with multiple candidates during a single event to fast-track hiring. Now, with social-distancing requiring things be done differently, we’ve allowed Indeed Hiring Events to be conducted virtually. 

Job seekers can sign up to attend a virtual hiring event, where interviews hosted by employers will be conducted online. And since Indeed provides the technology, which manages candidate RSVPs, screening, scheduling and automated reminders, all job seekers and employers need to do is show up and interview. 

In these uncertain times, we want to make it as easy as possible for employers to be transparent with job seekers. So we’ve added a new section to the Company Page “Reviews” tab, which can link to important information their company is sharing related to COVID-19, such as an official statement or blog.  

Employers can also use Company Pages to indicate to job seekers that they are still hiring and whether those jobs are ready for an immediate start. To share these types of updates they can use the “News & Updates” section, or feature any jobs that require quick hires by clicking on the “Feature this job” box on the “Jobs” tab of their Company Page. “Feature this job” capability is available to Company Page Premium clients.

It’s hard to know how the current environment will change work in the future. But Indeed is here to help job seekers and employers by providing tools and resources to efficiently connect talent with jobs. We’ll help keep hiring going — even as the way we hire changes. 

This article  first appeared on Indeed website:

https://www.indeed.com/lead/hire-ready-to-work-candidates?hl=en&co=PH

TalentView is an official partner of Indeed in the APAC region.