Our Remote Reality – Adjusting to the New Normal
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, something has changed. Actually, many things have changed, but one phrase has emerged and grabbed the attention of employers and employees across nearly every industry in the global economy: remote working.
Although not a new idea, working remotely has been a new experience for thousands if not millions of employees across the globe in recent weeks. It’s become “the new normal.” So much so that people are surprised when they hear you’re not working remotely. Many will go back to the office in the coming months as the pandemic curve declines, but both companies and employees will have new knowledge and experiences they can’t forget.
Some say we were already on the path to remote work, and COVID-19 just pushed up the timeline. It’s likely that some employees will continue to work remotely, at least on a part-time basis, when it makes sense. Employers are applying new best practices to the situation. And more and more new companies will emerge that have entire teams working remotely – permanently.
It’s not just remote work though. Companies are also dealing with another new phenomenon – the need to onboard employees remotely.
Hiring surge demand calls for new solutions
Although many many industries are suffering from shutdowns, others are booming and need more workers. Amazon, for example, is in the process of hiring 100,000 people to meet the surging demand from customers fearful of visiting brick-and-mortar stores.
Face-to-face onboarding has proven to be a big bottleneck during COVID-19. Following CDC guidelines has made the traditional employee onboarding process impossible. As a result, more and more companies are discovering and implementing digital hiring and onboarding. Julie Pearl, who led creation of Tracker I-9 Compliance, was quoted by Bloomberg on this very point:
“Walmart, which is hiring 150,000 people, compressed its hiring process from approximately two weeks to just 24 hours and is giving verbal offers by phone following online assessments. Other companies like Kroger use online platforms to check the identification of applicants so a bunch of new workers don’t have to attend big events to go through government-required ID verification.”
Is remote hiring the new normal?
Solutions like Tracker I-9 Compliance have been helping thousands of companies with employee onboarding for several years now, keeping companies in compliance while streamlining their hiring process.
Our offering even includes remote hiring features for making onboarding new employees easy, eliminating unnecessary workload and communication with out-of-state candidates. Companies can meet the strict I-9 processing timelines and know their forms are submitted accurately with instant E-Verify integration.
In the coming months – keep your fingers crossed! – the economy will turn back on, and there’ll be another surge in hiring. Laid-off employees are eager to work, and businesses are eager to open their doors. The fastest and safest way to get your new staff hired and working? Organizations are finding it’s with a tested and trusted solution.
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