6 Recruiting Trends That Will Shape Hiring in 2025

Michelle Wilson - November 4, 2021

In days of old, phone interviews or virtual interviews were usually a prerequisite to an in-person interview. These days, however, phone and virtual interviews are par for the course, thanks primarily to COVID.

The COVID pandemic changed the way companies work and hire, with most businesses transitioning to remote work and remote hiring. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, only 20% of people surveyed worked from home before the outbreak of the Coronavirus, compared to 71% of people who are currently working from home. Furthermore, 54% of respondents stated that they wanted to continue working from home after the pandemic ends. Consequently, many companies are shifting their workplace and recruiting practices to favor remote workers.

What does this mean for hiring in 2025? We’ve got some predictions about the trends that will shape business hiring practices.

Virtual Recruiting

When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered workplaces, companies had to start taking a virtual approach to hiring. In general, this meant that they searched for candidates online through professional sites, social media, and online career forums, conducted virtual interviews, and onboarded successful applicants through virtual processes. Although virtual hiring processes existed before 2020, they were usually only part of the process. However, hiring managers had to rely solely on virtual means to find, interview, and onboard employees due to the pandemic.

This reliance on virtual technology was necessary during the pandemic when everyone was encouraged to stay home as much as possible. However, now that restrictions are lifting, hiring managers are likely to continue using virtual recruiting methods. This is because there are several benefits to searching for, interviewing, and onboarding employees virtually.

The main benefit of virtual recruiting is that it speeds up the hiring process. Hiring managers can conduct more preliminary interviews virtually than if they were to conduct them in person. Virtual recruiting also benefits candidates because they can do more interviews in a shorter period of time, allowing them more chances of a successful candidature. Furthermore, it saves both recruiters and applicants time and money. Instead of planning their day around getting to an interview, candidates can simply sit at their computer at the appointed time. This also saves them gas or public transport money. Hiring managers save time and money because they can fit more interviews into a day, meaning the hiring process gets shortened.

Recruiting Using AI Tools

AI recruiting refers to the use of artificial intelligence to automate parts of the recruitment process, such as screening resumes or scheduling interviews. In other words, AI helps with the most challenging part of recruitment, which according to 52% of HR leaders, is figuring out which applicants are the best fit. Therefore, by employing AI technology in the recruitment process, hiring managers can focus on communicating effectively with shortlisted candidates instead of spending hours going through resumes.

Additionally, using AI tools for recruiting allows hiring managers to learn more about candidates’ skills and knowledge because AI will analyze an applicant’s social media and resume to define their behavior patterns.

Social Media Recruiting

Social media plays a central role in our lives. We use it to communicate, express our opinions, gather information, and shop. It’s also becoming a great place to find new career opportunities.

Companies are already using social media to get the word out about open positions. We predict that this trend will continue with businesses paying more attention to engaging candidates on social media using photos and videos. They will also likely start encouraging current employees to share content about new career opportunities. Furthermore, employers can use social media to improve their branding. Strong branding will help to attract skilled candidates as strong branding helps businesses stand out from the rest.

The Rise of Soft Skills

According to research by Deloitte, the US workforce is in the midst of a widespread skills deficit. This deficit is expected to increase to a scarcity of 29 million skills by the year 2030. In general, the skills that companies need are soft skills. Deloitte states that in the early 2010s, the typical employee lacked 1.2 of the essential skills that employers required for a specific position. Currently, that number is 18 critical job skills. Hence, the 23 million skills shortage. Therefore, across all industries, recruiters will be looking to hire based on soft skills.

Experts believe that 66% of all new jobs will rely on soft skills such as collaboration, communication, and problem-solving. Furthermore, many repetitive jobs will soon be automated. Consequently, recruiters will be focusing on finding candidates who can show that they possess these skills.

Candidate Experience Means Everything

The term ‘candidate experience’ refers to a candidate’s impression of an organization’s recruitment process. It involves several factors, such as the candidate’s attitude, behavior, and feelings during the hiring process.

While this element seems like it may matter most to the candidate, companies are increasingly using the candidate experience as part of their recruitment practice. Businesses use the desire to create a good candidate experience to improve their hiring process and ensure a positive experience so that their company isn’t adversely affected. For instance, an organization can create a positive candidate experience by segmenting candidates based on their types and choosing a hiring journey that addresses their specific expectations. They should also adjust their candidate experience to align with their corporate goals, culture, and values. Finally, they need to construct a consumer-centric candidate experience and assess the efficiency for their methods.

Generation Z Will Emerge

It’s now 2021, and Generation Z is growing up and entering the workforce. Therefore, businesses need to adapt their recruitment strategies to appeal to the values of these new workers.

To begin with, Gen Z prioritizes diversity, so companies need to make their position on diversity clear. Secondly, this generation wants flexibility and remote working opportunities, so businesses should demonstrate how they foster work-life balance and prioritize quality over quantity.

It’s also important to remember that Gen Z doesn’t remember a world without technology, so they are more likely to trust companies that use modern tech in their recruitment than companies that don’t. Lastly, this generation knows their value, and they know there are lots of opportunities out there for them. Therefore, you have to be persuasive and focus on selling them on the role you’re offering.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world in a number of ways, and the recruitment industry was not excluded from these changes. As the pandemic wanes, however, many of these changes will be sticking around. For instance, conducting interviews and onboarding employees through virtual technology and allowing people to work remotely will continue in 2025.

However, other trends were not shaped by the pandemic but rather by the progress of time and technology that will also impact hiring in 2025. These are using AI technology and social media for recruitment, hiring employees based on their soft skills, prioritizing the candidate experience, and making one’s company or career opportunity appealing to Generation Z.