How teleworking has changed the recruitment industry

The widespread use of distance learning has had a significant impact on the recruitment industry. From the expansion of employment pools to the acceleration of the hiring process due to its digitalization, 20 months after the beginning of the pandemic, the sector is booming.

For the past year and a half, the word telework has been included in all job offers. The filter is now proposed on most of the search engines of the ad platforms, Welcome to the Jungle, Pôle Emploi or Indeed. The social network LinkedIn offers the possibility of filtering offers according to three categories, on site, hybrid and remote.

Now widespread, teleworking had already become popular before the pandemic: "with the transport strikes and the yellow waistcoats, in the Paris region, remote working had begun to be used by a certain number of employees", says Céline Klingbeil-Assaraf, founder of the recruitment firm Key People Executives. The covid then reshuffled the cards on the entire planet in terms of work organisation, so much so that a return to the past seems unthinkable today, as the health crisis has been accompanied by a profound change in mentalities. According to a JLL survey conducted last May, work-life balance is now the top priority for the majority of employees, ahead of salary and finding meaning in their work. " Teleworking is one of the most recurrent questions from candidates," says this company director who was used to remote recruitment only for developers before the health crisis. Aged 40, this headhunter specialising in middle and top management recruitment in start-ups set up her structure in 2017. " Whether you're a CEO or a marketing director, remote recruitment is now widespread in all professions," she adds, before qualifying "except for management positions or the beginning of contracts, for which face-to-face recruitment is more appropriate.

Far from the start-up nation, in more conventional structures, some employers are still resisting. " We hear the reluctance of traditional French companies who have in mind the idea that for teams to perform, the manager must be there" explains Romain Eyherabide who works in the very prestigious Eric Salmon firm. The firm specialises in the recruitment of senior executives, particularly in CAC40 companies. In these organisations, the bosses of creative industries such as fashion often link performance, creative outpouring and face-to-face meetings.

"Today, we have French clients who no longer want to recruit French people", Romain Eyherabide, consultant at Eric Salmon

Distance learning has given a big boost to the recruitment sector. " We hardly ever do visios anymore, we don't meet the candidates", says Céline Klingbeil-Assaraf. Headhunters work faster and handle more assignments in less time thanks to digitalization. Not to mention the fact that in start-ups "the market has picked up enormously since we are on a record of fund raising. And what follows the raising of funds is recruitment". Especially since teleworking has incredibly opened up the field of possibilities. "We can source profiles anywhere in France and even elsewhere thanks to teleworking. This multiplies the opportunities, the market is very dynamic and the unemployment rate is falling", she continues. This trend is widely confirmed in the "elite" recruitment of senior positions within large companies; these structures constitute the majority of Romain Eyherabide's client portfolio, which is increasing the number of transnational hires: "We can select the best talents because we open up the geographical field to a pool of international candidates.

Especially since companies are keen on cultural diversity and must meet diversity objectives. " Performance, parity and diversity often go hand in hand," continues the consultant. "Today, we have French clients who no longer want to hire French people! Transnational recruitments are also motivated by a perspective of optimisation linked to low labour costs abroad. " With the variability of salaries depending on the country, it is very advantageous for companies", says Romain Eyherabide.
If international recruitment is on the rise, one question remains: when will recruitment without borders take place? "This is still a nascent phenomenon, with tech companies emerging with the prospect of recruiting talent without geographical location.

Fear of job relocation

A context that raises fears among some actors in the labour market, who fear a massive relocation of labour abroad.
Accountants, engineers, developers, or even support functions, for the vice-president of the national association of HRDs Benoît Serre, white collar workers could be the big losers of a phenomenon of outsourcing their skills abroad, due to the high cost of French labour. " A point of attention must be made on the demands of employees concerning "100% telework" because this could open the door to the delocalisation of jobs in the context of the globalisation of skills," reads the ANDRH website. A perspective considered somewhat alarmist by other professionals in the sector, such as Céline Klingbeil-Assaraf. "The market is so active that this phenomenon will remain marginal. Especially as full-remote is still far from being the case for the majority of structures."

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