A 2019 study by Harvard Business School and Accenture reported that 90% of employers used an applicant tracking system and recruiting management system.
These systems automate many hiring processes, reducing the time and cost of locating new hires.
However, the cost of this efficiency is clear, with 88% of the same employers noting that automated vetting systems dismissed many qualified candidates. Often this is due to in-built rigid parameters in these hiring systems that are used as inaccurate proxies for the skill of a candidate. For example, any gap in employment can lead to a candidate being rejected despite them being otherwise qualified, or the career break being necessary.
Unemployed and underemployed workers
In 2023, an update to the Harvard-Accenture study was published and focused specifically on part-time workers, it found that 17% of this group was also un- or underemployed. In this way, a picture begins to form, corporations miss out on many qualified workers again and again—what both studies name “hidden workers”. This phenomenon impacts all involved parties. It creates a talent shortage for employers. It prolongs a candidate’s struggle with un- or underemployment. And most importantly it indicates a failure of corporate diversity and inclusion practices.
Many factors can contribute to a worker being un- or underemployed. This includes ongoing caring responsibilities, chronic illnesses, mental health challenges, long-term unemployment, physical disabilities, refugee status, and more. Companies hoping to secure a diverse and talented pool of workers must strive to limit the pervasive barriers of entry to employment. This could be a lack of support for employees facing health challenges, a limited remote working offer, or minimal company knowledge of the impact of caring responsibilities on employees.
The 2023 study further found that many part-time workers were actually willing to work more hours if it was possible. However, many of these same people were either vetted out of full-time roles by automated hiring systems or not accommodated within current roles to access more hours. These are both junctures in which companies can step in to retain and employ previously hidden workers.
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By GlobalDataEmployers and Gen Z workers
This is where Gen Z’s separate but related push for flexible working comes in. Gen Z demands flexible working, in the form of remote or asynchronous working, for various reasons but mainly to facilitate a greater work-life balance.
Burning the midnight oil is no longer a critical signifier of the value of an employee. For an employee facing the challenges of a chronic illness, the benefits of flexible working go beyond this, and offer the chance for them to sustain an income despite the ups and downs of their condition.
Asynchronous working does not require teams to be working at the same time and instead enables workers to complete their tasks at any time that suits them with an agreed-upon delivery date. This is a particularly powerful workplace practice that would increase the inclusion of previously hidden workers. Gen Z is a key component in pushing employers for better hiring practices and accommodations for all candidates.
Demands that have previously been showcased as just helping younger cohorts can empower countless employees while presenting companies with a greater talent pool—both those candidates facing the common causes of underemployment and those choosing to apply for a company with strong diversity and inclusion policies.
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