Recruitment during COVID-19: Challenges and Way Forward for Human Resource Managers in India

Abstract

Even before the pandemic hit us, recruitment practices were undergoing drastic changes all over the world. COVID-19 pandemic then played an important role in amplifying the speed of this change especially the digital change. The profession which cannot work without connections and personal touch was forced to be restricted to a computer screen. This study investigates how pandemic and associated restrictions impacted the recruitment practices followed traditionally. Phenomenological study approach was followed where data was collected using semi-structured interview with HR managers of 11 private companies in the Financial and IT sector in India to give an accurate representation of real-life phenomena. In our discussion, we outline the major challenges faced by recruiters in pandemic and how we believe that the practices adopted to face these challenges are here to stay even after the impact of pandemic subsides. We conclude our discussion by explaining the future reshaping of the recruitment domain by identifying six major themes.