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Leveraging inclusive hiring automation to meet demand in post-pandemic recovery

Given the scale of rehiring needed, conventional human resources systems will likely be overwhelmed and unlikely to meet the demand for recovery when push comes to shove.

Wisnu Nugrahadi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, May 10, 2021

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Leveraging inclusive hiring automation to meet demand in post-pandemic recovery

M

anpower Minister Ida Fauziah recently said that COVID-19 had impacted the employment of nearly 30 million Indonesians, of which 1.77 million have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. The unemployment rate rose from 4.9 percent to 7 percent, and the poverty rate increased to a three-year high, with 7.55 million citizens living below the poverty line.

Yet, with mass vaccination underway across the nation, recovery is no longer a faint glimmer on the horizon. Industries heavily impacted by the pandemic, such as hospitality and retail, can finally gather enough conviction to start mapping out the way to resurgence. It is time for businesses to establish clear strategic recovery plans.

As businesses start to rebuild, rehiring will prove to be a new challenge. However, the existing hiring structure is designed for a traditional turnover rate of 3 to 4 percent, which will not be sufficient for the task at hand.

A survey found that, globally, it takes between 25 to 46 days on average to hire a new employee. Given the scale of rehiring needed, conventional human resources systems will likely be overwhelmed and unlikely to meet the demand for recovery when push comes to shove.

The challenge of rapid rehiring is daunting for businesses, but the situation is even more pressing for the millions of Indonesians who rely on these jobs for their living. Before the pandemic, more than 70 million workers (which is more than half of Indonesia's workforce) relied for their livelihoods on the informal sector.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) also recorded that around half of the nation’s poor were working in the informal sector. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the vulnerability and instability that comes with informal employment. For many Indonesians who were already facing job insecurity, the past year has been devastating, to say the least.

Facing this crisis, employers must ensure that their human resource management is backed up by sufficient tools and resources. Digital solutions, like in many sectors during the pandemic, can be very useful to manage human resources. Yet it is crucial to ensure that these solutions not only replicate conventional processes in digital form, but rather transform the recruitment process to meet the pressing need.

Hiring automation empowers human resource managers to take up the challenge of rehiring post-pandemic. Technology allows recruiters to find the right people for the job more systematically and efficiently. Particularly for companies needing to hire temporary and blue-collar workers, there needs to be a smart solution to reliably source, vet and match them with the right job-seekers. Integrating this solution with employers’ digital human resource management systems would not only save a lot of time and energy, but also allow human resource managers to make better, smarter decisions.

At the same time, automation must not exclude those who need these jobs the most. Rather, hiring automation solutions should empower the millions of informal-sector workers in Indonesia, particularly the poor.

Digitalization offers many opportunities for informal workers to rejoin the workforce, one of which is through online skills training specialized for the shifting needs brought about by the rapid digitalization necessitated by the pandemic. Employers need to rethink employee training, so as to widen the pool of informal workers who meet their qualification requirements. An investment in online training systems could yield better results than running inefficient traditional training programs.

Digital hiring services also allow informal workers to carve their own path to employment, rather than relying on often-exploitative middlemen in matching them with opportunities. Just as digital platforms (such as ride-hailing apps) enable people to take on-demand jobs, digital hiring platforms enable informal workers to choose jobs that are aligned with their skills and preferences.

The thoughtful use of technology in automating recruitment is the solution needed to meet the urgent need of post-pandemic rehiring. Hiring automation allows employers to manage recruitment more efficiently, but it must not exclude the millions of informal workers who have been hit hard by the pandemic.

At the same time, this post-pandemic recovery is an opportunity for a wholesale digital revolution in human resource management in Indonesia. COVID-19 has forced employers to rethink and reprioritize how it manages human resource costs.

So, instead of directly returning to prepandemic practices, businesses can learn from the trauma and incorporate systems that are most cost-effective and efficient. Automation is the future of human resource management, and it is momentous for employers to embrace technology rather than resist it.

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The writer is CEO and cofounder of Sampingan.

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