As Unemployment Climbs, the Applicant Pool to Healthcare has changed significantly

Arena Analytics shares insights from its hiring technology platform

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Oct 06, 2020, 09:30 ET

BALTIMORE, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past five years, the vast majority of applicants to healthcare systems and senior living providers have been using smart phones when they apply for jobs. Only about 37% of all applicants were using a desktop or laptop.

That all changed this June.

Applicants have increasingly indicated a community service background

Over 95% of applicants used laptops or desktop computers to complete their job applications in June. Since that height, the percentage of applicants using these devices has varied, averaging 70%, but has not dropped down to the long-time statistic below 40%.

What happened?

Possibly, applicants had always owned non-mobile devices but had been out and about, perhaps working at a job site. And so they completed applications while on the move, on their phones. Pandemic-related lockdowns might have meant these same individuals who normally used their smartphones were now at home, near their larger devices. Therefore, they simply used those devices instead.

However, there is data suggesting another possibility. These are not the same applicants. Individuals who would have been working different jobs or attending school may now be pursuing frontline jobs in healthcare. These are individuals who own laptops and desktops, while the majority of frontline workers in healthcare before may not have the same range of devices at their disposal.

Arena Analytics has seen unusual trends in the applicant pool that suggest attitudes are changing, and the applicants themselves are different. Prior to the pandemic and its related economic impacts in March, for example, applicants to frontline healthcare roles were not likely to have 'done any community service' in the past 3 years. The trend line increased dramatically toward 'yes' on this particular data point. By May, and continuing still, the majority of applicants had taken part in community service activities in recent years.

Since 2016, applicants to jobs at healthcare and senior living sites have encountered Arena's technology. Deployed at 1,100 sites across 42 states, Arena's platform is integrated into the applicant process at facilities covering 17% of the U.S. healthcare market. Arena analyzes the keystroke and answer data of applicants as they complete Arena's 7 minute questionnaire.

This questionnaire is not a test with right/wrong answers assessing skills or comparing applicants to a theoretical, or employer-specified, ideal. Arena's questionnaire is only a part of a bigger data analytics platform that collects and analyzes data from employers and the local labor market. By applying machine learning techniques that remove bias and continually update with new data sources, Arena can match applicants to specific jobs, locations, departments and shifts where they will achieve outcomes such as retention and engagement.

While the exact answers to a question do not determine a definite 'fit' to a job category or even to a specific job type, the answers to some questions have shifted significantly over the past 6 months. Arena is digging into this data and conducting conversations with applicants and healthcare workers in order to better understand why they 'prefer NOT to interact with others in person' - is this a concern over contracting covid-19 or a general acceleration of a pre-existing trend toward more online and less in-person activities.

How to interpret the steep turn from neutral to yes responses for the statement that 'any job is better than no job at all'? Is there a fear of contracting the virus which could mean one does not take a job? Maybe this is about being selective about what job one takes for a good reason. The jobs these applicants are applying to are important and essential - caring for the most vulnerable people in our society. It's not just 'any job.'

About Arena (https://www.arena.io/) applies predictive analytics and machine learning to solve talent acquisition challenges. Learning algorithms analyze a large amount of data to predict with high levels of accuracy the likelihood of different outcomes occurring, such as someone leaving, being engaged, having excellent attendance, and more. By revealing each individual's likely outcomes in specific positions, departments, and locations, Arena is transforming the labor market from one based on perception and unconscious bias, to one based on outcomes. Arena is currently growing dramatically within the healthcare industry and expanding its offerings to other people-intensive industries. For more information contact info@arena.io

SOURCE Arena