CVS eyes virtual interviews, job fairs to hire 50K workers

Dive Brief:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CVS Health plans to immediately fill 50,000 full-time, part-time and temporary positions across the country, the company announced March 23. Job opportunities include store associates, distribution center employees, customer service professionals and home delivery drivers.
The technology-enabled hiring process will include virtual job fairs, virtual interviews and virtual job tryouts. HR Dive reached out to CVS for further details but did not receive a response. The press release does not clarify the specifics of participation. Many of the jobs will be filled by furloughed or laid-off workers from CVS clients including Marriott and Hilton, the company said in the press release.
CVS is giving bonuses ranging from $150 to $500 to employees "on the frontlines" including pharmacists, healthcare professionals, store associates and managers who are required to be at facilities to assist patients and customers. "Our colleagues have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to providing essential goods and services at a time when they're needed most," said Larry J. Merlo, president and CEO, CVS Health, said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

As the COVID-19 pandemic requires companies to operate remotely, virtual job fairs are becoming more practical.

Anyone with an internet connection is able to access a virtual job fair, according to FlexJobs, an organization that virtually connects job seekers with employers. "Unlike traditional job fairs, virtual job fairs make it easy to focus on the companies and the jobs available because you don’t have to worry about things like your travel time, or getting stuck in a traffic jam," Toni Frana, a career coach with the organization, stated in a recent blog post. Hilton participated in a FlexJobs virtual career fair in January hiring for positions including sales manager, lead global network engineer and senior revenue manager. Williams-Sonoma, a multichannel specialty retailer whose brands include Pottery Barn and West Elm, participated as well seeking customer service agents.

The online job fairs are also being used to hire Gen Z candidates. National Youth #HiringDay, a virtual job fair in 2019, connected employers with candidates ages 16 to 24 for entry-level positions. The event encouraged young people to use the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative-staged website to find job opportunities in their area and submit online applications. Employers who participated included FedEx, Hilton and Hyatt.

CVS plans to conduct a fully virtual experience for candidates, and new hires will require technology-based training. Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality and similar "extended reality" technologies are providing accelerated training, according to experts. These tools can even be used to train workers for a risky procedure before they try it in real life, Concept3D's CEO Gordon Boyes told HR Dive in a recent interview.

While some companies have had to close stores, Amazon announced March 16 that it will open 100,000 new full and part-time positions in fulfillment centers across the country. Job cuts, however, will likely continue across the board; a recent estimate of job cuts due to COVID-19 is at 3,634 as of March 18, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. revealed earlier this month.