What is Rapid Hiring?

The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated some major shifts in the labor market. Specifically, it seemed to trigger what many analysts have called the “Great Resignation,” which has left many companies with a labor shortage that continues to this day.

Naturally, business owners and HR experts have sought the best strategies to address the issue, and what many have found is that the “slow and steady” approach to hiring just isn’t going to cut it. Instead, many companies have shifted toward an innovative new method called rapid hiring.

But what is rapid hiring? And what advantages (and disadvantages) does it offer to your business?

A Closer Look at Rapid Hiring

Just as its name implies, rapid hiring is all about taking traditional hiring processes, condensing them, and onboarding employees ASAP. A Reuters report notes that Home Depot is using the process to increase hiring by 25 percent this spring. Their rapid hiring process involves job offers being made within a day of the initial application; previously, the entire process took about five days, on average, at Home Depots across the country.

So how do companies like Home Depot plan to streamline their hiring process so dramatically? A big part of the answer lies in AI. For example, AI programs allow applicants to apply, interview, and receive offers via a text-based interface, significantly shortening the recruitment process and also easing the HR burden on employers. These AI technologies are being used by major businesses like Home Depot, but can also be surprisingly accessible and affordable even for small and mid-sized companies.

While machine learning and AI are demonstrating remarkable results, there may also be some limitations. Indeed, even Home Depot is combining its tech-enhanced rapid hiring process with good-old-fashioned, in-person career days, among other methods of outreach.

Assessing Rapid Hiring

There’s no question that technology can play a significant role in helping get qualified applicants through the recruitment process in record time. Even so, our instinct is to say that Home Depot is right: There’s still a need for employers to be accessible to jobseekers who aren’t as clued-in to rapid hiring or text-based interviewing. And for HR, there is still a need to promote the company’s culture in a very visible way, allowing job seekers to have a better sense of what the business stands for and whether it’s a good fit for their skills and their values.

With all of that said, the sheer accessibility of rapid hiring technology could be a boon to overworked HR teams. It’s something we’ll keep an eye on here at FullHR. In the meantime, feel free to contact us with any questions about streamlining your own hiring and HR operations for the year to come.