According to Layoffs.fyi, a company that tracks layoffs in startups, 43,000 employees from 342 startups were laid off between April 1 and August 1. Of those, 13% were from India.
Due to factors like market shifts and economic downturns, companies enforce hiring freeze and let valuable team members go. Surplus employees that companies lay off do not make them any less competent candidates. So, if you are looking to hire some great people, it could be the best time.
This blog will discuss how startups should hire during mass layoffs:
1. Look at laid-off employees as an opportunity to build your talent pool
The layoff can be the time to source qualified candidates and develop a quality talent pool. It is when you will find more active job seekers. Post jobs on most sought-after job boards like Naukri, Indeed and monster. Also, connect with professionals on LinkedIn by visiting their company’s profile page on LinkedIn. People in companies on a spree to lay off their surplus employees are open to new opportunities. Look for the “Open to work” badge on their LinkedIn profile.
2. Treat laid-off candidates the same as other candidates
An organisation’s laid-off employees can be the talent your company needs. Look at laid-off employees in the same way as any other candidates. They could be pre-screened candidates with experience working in reputed companies. Assess if they fit your criteria. Pay them a decent salary and fair treatment to encourage them to prove their expertise.
3. Identify and hire talented young minds with versatile skills
It is time to find talented candidates who can do many jobs. Laid Off candidates may be more open to exploring and doing jobs in addition to their mainstream jobs. For example, you can hire a project manager who can also work as customer support or a UX designer who can do graphic designing.
4. Encourage social recruiting to reach out to laid-off employees
The first thing laid-off candidates do is update their network about their availability. Use popular social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to research such candidates. Find out which companies in your industry laid off their employees recently. Visit the company website and LinkedIn page to get to candidate profiles. Track their “Activity” on LinkedIn. The posts they share and engage with tell a lot about their expertise, skills, and personality traits.
5. Prioritise hiring immediate joiners
Candidates backing out on the date of joining is a major problem in a candidate-centric market. Companies hiring immediate joiners and candidates with a notice period of not more than 15 days increase their offer acceptance and joining ratio. During layoffs, you will find many candidates who are immediate joiners or can join after a short notice period.
6. Consider salary expectations of laid-off candidates
Due to talent shortage, salary expectations have grown unreasonably high. In such a scenario, hiring laid-off candidates can be an advantage. Top contenders will be open to accepting a reasonable salary offer.
Offering job opportunities to laid-off candidates, you will benefit from hiring dedicated people who stay with you for a long time. You will significantly reduce your employee turnover rate, spend less on recruitment and improve the overall performance of your team.
