Employment Verification During COVID 19: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a heavy blow to many industries across different sectors. The pandemic has also considerably disrupted employee verification. In many cases, background verifications are on hold as the schools and courthouses remain closed, and access to records remains blocked.
Additionally, uncertainties about worsening business conditions have made some companies temporarily halt hiring. So, keeping everything in mind, what is the current status of employee screening in this situation? Let’s take a closer look.
Employee Verification is on Hold in Several Sectors
A clear difference exists among various market sectors regarding how they are faring. While the government-related and healthcare businesses are up by a significant percentage, manufacturing, and energy have steadily declined.
Many companies are only focused on supporting the employees they have. Hiring new employees or replacing those who leave is outside the employer’s mind. It affects the screening services, as well. Most businesses have turned to remote operations, and many still need to operate at full capacity.
The percentage of reduction in hiring by an employer and whether it’s temporary or not are still unknown facts. One can expect that the screenings on a temporary hold will be reactivated. However, the time it takes to return to business as usual still needs to be discovered.
Roadblocks Faced by Employee Screening Companies
Employee screening services have faced major roadblocks during the pandemic. Court closures and remote working have become major challenges for them. Though court closures are meant to uphold public safety, it presents an undeniable barrier to these services’ operations.
The businesses that are actively hiring at present are industries directly dealing in essential services. A few examples are industries like grocery or food delivery, transportation, and healthcare. As one can guess, background screenings are a crucial step in the hiring process of such industries. But given the current scenario and the high demand for employees in these industries, background verification has taken a backseat.
If a business contacts a university registrar or HR manager about education or employment verification, it will take longer to get back to them. Crucial reporting sources such as universities, schools, and employers are going ahead with remote working orders for the entire staff. Thus, the background verification services need help to retrieve the required details.
Long-term solutions are technological. With the nation working together and coming through, the pandemic will end in the coming weeks, acting as a catalyst for more courthouses to digitize their records.
Until then, several delays can prompt businesses with urgent hiring requirements to consider skipping background checks. Skipping these necessary checks might create more business problems than they think.
In Conclusion
To help avoid these issues altogether, contacting AuthBridge to initiate employee screening for all industries is the best way forward. With the experience and expertise of their professionals, businesses will always get to hire, check and onboard the right people for the right job. Companies like AuthBridge use the latest technology and Artificial Intelligence to make both bulk and individual screening possible to ensure that businesses always hire the right talent.
