Why recruiting during the Covid-19 Lockdown could put your business ahead of the curve… 

At the stroke of midnight, on the 27th of March, South Africa entered lockdown. Non-essential services shuttered their doors, and those that could, scrambled to move their workforce and operations online. 

South Africa, along with the rest of the world, has entered uncharted territory. In a climate of uncertainty, many businesses have chosen to freeze hiring, while others are retrenching workers. It’s tempting for businesses to hunker down, to defer expansion and recruitment plans “until this all blows over”.  

But for those businesses with a bit of vision and foresight, the global uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 lockdowns presents an opportunity to seize, rather than obstacle to overcome. If you’re looking to lock down top talent quickly and efficiently, now is the time to do it. 

In an index tracking recruitment and job search activity, CareerJunction noted that the index had reached 95 index points in March 2020 – indicating  that there were more people searching for jobs, than there were jobs available. And with an estimated 370 000 job losses anticipated in 2020, many talented candidates are facing an uncertain future, and are eager to explore new opportunities. 

And that means, it’s a recruiters market. Those companies daring to take on the recruitment challenge while we’re flattening the curve, will end up ahead of the curve when businesses re-open, and their more cautious competitors throw their hats into the recruitment ring. 

There are further advantages to active recruitment during lockdown. Potential candidates are likely working from home – which means candidates are flexible, and remote meetings are easy to arrange. 

With little competition on the recruitment front, and excellent candidates seeking job security and new opportunity, a savvy business can build a top tier talent pool while their competition is simply trying to stay afloat. 

It stands to reason: If the best candidate in the business is looking for offers, and yours is the only one on the table… that’s the offer the candidate will take. 

When lockdown is over, and your competition is strategizing their recovery, you’ll be at least two months ahead of them, with the best possible people on board, ready to return to business as usual. Which means that when other companies are just starting their post-lockdown recovery race… you’ve already won it.

If you’re looking to stay ahead of the comeback race, contact mavism@e-merge.co.za and ask about how we can introduce you to great developers, right now.