Searches for frontline jobs soar as people step up to help amidst the Coronavirus crisis

New research from job site Indeed shows that searches for frontline jobs have surged over the past number of weeks as people step up to play their part in the ongoing pandemic. Among the fastest-rising search keywords on Indeed were HSE roles, as well as other medical roles and grocery jobs.

Search terms such as ‘HSE Driving’ increased by 966% between 20th March and 20th April, compared to the same period last year, while searches such as ‘HSE Administration’ (up 720%), ‘HSE recruitment’ (up 219%) and ‘HSE Healthcare Assistant’ (up 191%) also saw a huge uptick, with many peaking in late March.

Indeed noted that searches for other frontline roles in the medtech and grocery and sectors also rocketed. Searches such as ‘Medtronic’ (up 1412%) and ‘Medical Laboratory’ (up 337%) saw big increases following hiring announcements in this area. Likewise searches for jobs in grocery also soared on foot of hiring announcements, with searches for ‘Supermarket’ rising 551%, while searches for specific retailers such as ‘Aldi’, ‘Tesco Ireland’ and ‘Lidl’ all rose significantly during this period too.

Derek Diviney, Vice President at Indeed commented, “Our data clearly shows the huge surge in interest in frontline jobs. As things develop, we’ve seen people across the country adapt and step up to help in whatever way they can. Many who have lost their jobs have valuable transferable skills that can be used in these roles, and it’s our mission to connect them to these opportunities. We’ve been glad to work with the HSE directly too, helping to support their recruitment campaign for urgent roles at such a pressing time.”

Indeed also announced a suite of new features that will be rolled out in the coming weeks to enable job seekers and employers to connect quickly at this time. Thousands of Irish job seekers have already added #readytowork to their Indeed CV, indicating they are available to work now, one of several new product features Indeed has introduced to help those whose jobs have been impacted by COVID-19.

Derek Diviney continued, “As job losses mount, it is more important than ever for us to help people get jobs and provide them with resources that will help them now. These new features are designed to quickly match those who are ready to work with companies who are urgently hiring.”

New features include:

— #readytowork: Job seekers can add #readytowork to their Indeed CV to alert employers of their immediate availability for any job. Employers who are looking to urgently fill roles can search for the candidates who have added this tag to their CV.

— Virtual Hiring Events: Job seekers can sign up to attend open virtual interviews hosted by employers looking to hire for a role or set of roles. Indeed provides the technology, which manages RSVPs, screening, scheduling and automated reminders, so all job seekers need to do is show up and interview.

— Remote Job Search Filter: A new search filter that lets job seekers filter roles that have been identified as remote, either directly tagged by employers or based on language in the job description. Filtered searches will include those that are fully remote, as well as jobs that are remote temporarily due to COVID-19.