A guide to surviving high volume hiring The task of filling many positions isn't just a routine task at enterprise-level large businesses—it's an art and a science HRs in these companies need to master to deal with the sheer volume of applicants and the rapid turnover rates.
65% of all kinds of businesses and 73% of large organizations admit to engaging in high-volume hiring.
What is high-volume recruitment?
It involves having to fill a lot of job positions fast. In high-volume recruitment, the average job advertisement attracts over 250 applicants. Quick-service restaurants are the first businesses people usually think about that do high-volume hiring. Giants in the industry, such as Target and Kohl’s, navigate through the daunting challenge of sifting through hundreds of thousands of applications each year.
Traditional recruitment methods barely scratch the surface of what's needed to handle this volume. You can only employ so many hiring managers before your hiring volume keeps on increasing and you need to sift through 250+ resumes in a week to make a hire.
It’s a race to find, attract, and retain the best candidates. Yet, amidst the hustle, there lies an opportunity to innovate, to turn challenges into stepping stones, and to transform the way the world hires, and the way you hire.
Industries that do volume hiring
Certain industries stand out for their reliance on high-volume hiring to fill essential roles quickly and efficiently. From retail giants to bustling quick-service restaurants, these sectors face the unique challenge of managing a deluge of applications and swiftly onboarding new employees to keep operations smooth. Below, we delve into the industries at the forefront of this hiring approach and the specific roles they're looking to fill.
Retail Industry
Key Positions: Sales Associates, sales supervisors, Store Assistants, Merchandisers
Insight: The retail industry, is a vital economic engine, it employed about 15.7 million people in February 2021. With 2021 retail sales hitting approximately $6.59 trillion, the sector needs efficient onboarding and streamlined application systems. These systems are crucial for handling the seasonal spikes in customer flow and inventory turnover, ensuring the industry keeps pace with demand.
Food Service and Restaurants
Key Positions: baristas, kitchen managers, banquet staff servers, cooks, dishwashers, food service managers.
Insight: With an average annual employee turnover rate of 150%, quick-service restaurants, in particular, depend on high-volume hiring to maintain service quality. The fast pace of this industry requires a continuous influx of motivated and trainable staff.
Delivery Services
Key Positions: couriers, messengers, delivery drivers
Insight: The explosion of e-commerce has significantly increased the need for reliable delivery services, making efficient recruitment systems essential for meeting consumer expectations for speedy deliveries. The U.S. alone employs over 1,419,427 delivery drivers currently.
Manufacturing
Key Positions: assembly line operators, print operators, warehouse associates
Insight: Manufacturing plants often operate 24/7 and account for 9.6% of all employment in the U.S. They require a large number of skilled workers to maintain productivity. Streamlining the hiring process can significantly reduce downtime and increase output.
Logistics
Key Positions: dispatchers, forklift operators, warehouse associates, inventory technicians
Insight: The logistics industry, crucial for both domestic and international trade, relies on high-volume hiring to fill roles critical for the timely and efficient movement of goods. There have been 124,918 active job postings in January 2024.
Healthcare
Key Positions: Care Assistants, Community Health Workers, Home Health Aides
Insight: Despite widespread job losses in other fields, health sector employment rose from 13.1 million in December 2007 to 13.4 million by the end of 2008, reaching 13.7 million in December 2009. As such, the industry emphasizes the importance of a recruitment process that is both sensitive and efficient, ensuring the right individuals are brought on board to provide essential care.
Hospitality
Key Positions: event staff, lifeguards, facilities managers, baggage porters, concierges, receptionists, tour agents
Insight: The hospitality sector's success hinges on customer satisfaction, there were about 353,000 vacancies within this sector in the United States (Deloitte, 2019).
Airline industry
Key Positions: pilots, flight attendants, ground crew, air traffic controllers, aircraft maintenance engineers, customer service representatives, baggage handlers
Insight: Employing approximately 90,970 individuals, these airlines rely on a broad spectrum of employees, including pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, and customer service representatives, each playing a crucial role in the seamless operation of flights.
Education industry
Key Use: Evaluating students for college acceptance.
Insight: The education industry continues to evolve, particularly in how students apply to colleges and universities. For the academic year 2022-2023, there were 70,352,096 applicants to U.S. colleges, with 40,825,856 being admitted and 9,707,544 ultimately enrolling. This substantial number of applicants underscores the competitive landscape of higher education admissions. With ChatGPT anyone can write essays but video applications provide a more comprehensive and personal presentation of themselves, beyond traditional written applications.
Professional and Business Services
Key Positions: call center agents, client service representatives, cleaning supervisors, custodians, janitors, and security guards
Insight: This broad category includes services that support other businesses' operations, necessitating a wide range of skill sets and the ability to quickly fill positions to meet client demands.
High-volume hiring challenges in today’s job market
About 45% of hiring managers think their current hiring strategy for high-volume hiring delivers satisfactory results.
There’s a need to explore different approaches beyond the conventional methods of application. Text-to-apply systems are popular in the hourly job market because text messages have an open rate of 98%, far surpassing emails at 22%.
Onboarding Process and Employee Retention
30% of workers leave a job within the first 90 days which is mostly due to a poor onboarding process. Furthermore, a well-structured onboarding experience not only retains more employees by up to 82% but also significantly boosts their productivity.
Despite this, 88% of organizations struggle with their onboarding process, and a mere 12% believe they have a good onboarding infrastructure. The lack of technology to automate and organize onboarding processes is felt by 36% of businesses, yet those with onboarding processes report a 54% increase in employee engagement (G2).
Workplace Culture
Creating a positive workplace culture can lead to a 19% increase in sales, a 29% higher profit, and a 72% decrease in attrition rates. Notably, employees who seek work-life balance (79%) and job satisfaction (76%) are significant indicators of an organization's health G2.
Overwhelming Application Volumes
Application Influx: The ease of applying leads to a high volume of applications, making it challenging to sift through them to find quality candidates.
Employee Turnover
High Attrition: Misaligned job expectations and a lack of transparency about roles contribute significantly to early turnover among new hires.
AI in Recruitment: Biases, Transparency, and Ethics
The rise of AI in recruitment offers a double-edged sword. While it streamlines the process, concerns loom around bias and a lack of transparency in decision-making.
Opacity in AI systems frustrates both candidates (who lack proper feedback) and recruiters (who struggle to understand AI's rationale). This lack of transparency undermines trust and raises questions about fairness.
Furthermore, AI can perpetuate biases present in its training data. Educational or geographic biases, for instance, might unintentionally exclude qualified candidates.
To ensure ethical and inclusive AI-powered recruitment, organizations must prioritize:
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Transparency: Explain how AI is used in the selection process and provide clear feedback to candidates.
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Data Diversity: Utilize training data that is representative of the target talent pool to avoid bias.
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Regular Audits: Conduct ongoing assessments of AI systems to identify and mitigate potential biases.
By addressing these concerns, organizations can leverage AI to achieve a more efficient and equitable recruitment process.
Hiring Quality
Variable Hire Quality: Focusing on filling positions quickly often results in a compromise on the quality of hires, affecting overall team performance and morale.
Hiring Efficiency
Extended Recruitment Time: Manual processes prolong the hiring timeline, resulting in candidate drop-off and lost productivity.
Manual Process Overload: Heavy reliance on manual recruitment processes leads to inefficiencies and decision-making based on gut feelings rather than data.
Candidate Experience
Negative Perceptions: Poor candidate experiences can deter job acceptance and negatively impact the employer brand.
Decentralized Hiring
Inconsistent Practices: Decentralized hiring leads to varied recruitment quality and practices across different locations.
Unequal Distribution: Decentralized hiring can result in staffing imbalances across locations, with some having too many or too few applicants.
Data Visibility
Lack of KPI Tracking: Fragmented data collection hampers the visibility of important recruitment KPIs, affecting decision-making.
Traditional Recruitment Methods
Outdated Practices: Reliance on traditional recruitment processes results in inefficiencies and unfair candidate treatment.
Why is employer branding important for volume hiring?
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The DNA of Your Employer Brand Think of your employer brand as the essence of your company as a workplace. It's not just about a logo or a tagline; it's the total picture - your values, culture, and the daily work environment. This unique identity is what attracts top talent, keeps them engaged, and convinces them to stay. Strong employer branding isn't just a feel-good exercise; it can significantly boost your recruitment efforts. Studies show it can cut hiring costs in half and speed up the process dramatically [Source: Gohire].
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Crafting Your Employee Value Proposition (EVP): The Sweet Spot Your EVP is the heart of your employer brand. It's the unique package of benefits and opportunities you offer in exchange for the skills and experience your ideal employees bring to the table. To craft a compelling EVP, you need to understand what makes your company tick – its values, mission, and culture. This is the secret sauce that will resonate with the best candidates and make them want to join your team [Source: Harver].
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Building Your Employer Brand Strategy: A Multi-Faceted Approach a. Speak with One Voice: Consistency is Key Imagine meeting someone who gives off completely different vibes every time you see them. That's what a lack of consistency does to your employer brand. Make sure all your interactions with potential hires, from job postings to social media, tell the same story and reinforce your company's reputation. Consistency also means following through on your promises and ensuring your recruitment practices reflect your core values [Source: TestGorilla]. b. Make it Personal: Real People, Real Connections Generic job ads are a dime a dozen. To truly stand out, tailor your recruitment campaigns to resonate with your ideal candidate. Think about what motivates them and what kind of work environment they crave. Here's where your current employees can be your biggest asset. Leverage them as brand ambassadors to showcase the authentic and attractive sides of working at your company [Source: Harver]. Don't forget about the candidate's experience either. A smooth and positive application process goes a long way in solidifying a good employer brand impression [Source: Harver]. c. Embrace Technology and Social Media: Spreading the Word in the Digital Age Technology can be a game-changer in recruitment. AI tools can help you streamline the process, while social media platforms let you reach a wider audience and showcase your company culture and employee experiences. Use these tools to your advantage and paint a vivid picture of what it's like to be part of your team [Source: PandoLogic].
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The Payoff: Why Employer Branding Matters Investing in your employer brand isn't just about looking good. It brings real benefits to your bottom line. A strong employer brand can lead to lower employee turnover, a larger pool of qualified applicants, and a faster hiring process. In fact, a LinkedIn report found that improved employer branding resulted in a 28% drop in turnover and a 50% increase in qualified applications for small and mid-sized businesses [Source: Exceleris]. So, the next time you think about recruitment, remember – employer branding is a strategic investment that pays off in the long run.
Vesume can transform volume hiring for you
94% of HRs in recruitment think a high-volume recruiting software can help them make hiring drives faster and less costly.
The Old Way Isn't Cutting It Anymore
High-volume hiring is a beast. Patching holes here and there won't get you lasting results. You need a complete overhaul, a digital revolution for your recruitment process. We're talking dedicated volume-hiring tech that turns information into insights you can actually use.
The Four Pillars of Recruitment Reinvention
- Forget gut feelings. Make data-driven decisions with our intelligent matching tech and scientifically sound assessments.
- Ditch the busywork. Automate 90% of your recruitment tasks, freeing you up for the important stuff - like meeting your awesome new hires!
- Even with high volume, a great experience matters. We make applying informative, engaging, and transparent for everyone.
- Gain insights you can use. Our tech gives you a clear picture of your hiring process, helping you make smarter decisions.
Real Results, Real People
These aren't just empty promises. We've tried and tested Vesume async to report a 60% faster hiring process and 90% candidate satisfaction.
How Do We Do It? Let's Get Specific.
Matching Made Easy:
Realistic job previews and embedded videos give candidates a clear picture of the role, so they know exactly what they're signing up for. Candidates record interviews at their convenience, and hiring managers evaluate at a time best for them.
Case Study of High-Volume Hiring
From Paperwork Piles to Perfect Matches: U.S. Security Associate Cracks High-Volume Hiring
Imagine sifting through resumes for 50,000 positions across 400 branches – that was the reality for U.S. Security Associates (USA). Filling these roles quickly and efficiently with qualified candidates was a constant battle. Spending hours on paperwork and traditional recruiting just wasn't cutting it.
They knew there had to be a better way. So, they embraced a tech-powered approach to recruitment.
The results spoke for themselves. Automated digital recruitment tools became their secret weapon. They saw a surge in qualified applicants, streamlined the selection process, and filled positions faster than ever before. It wasn't just about saving time (although that was a huge bonus!), it was about building a stronger, more qualified security team across the nation.
Ready to ditch the old way and embrace some automation in how your team does volume hiring? Let's talk!