COVID-19 forced workers home; the flexibility made them want to stay there. But caregivers are returning – with a whole new set of expectations.  

Today’s hybrid work models and new laws making remote work a legal right have changed talent acquisition strategies forever. These changes shaped new worker expectations as droves of caregivers who previously left the workforce return to the labor force on their terms.  

As employers update — or enact — their caregiving programs, they also require clear policies and procedures that allow them to support and manage employees who are caregivers.

But first, why did caregivers leave the workforce?

According to the National Women’s Law Center, which analyzed the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, male workers regained all pandemic-related job losses from February 2020 to January 2022. However, 1.1 million women left the labor force during that same timeframe, accounting for 63 percent of all jobs lost.

(Learn more about how to bring women into the workforce here). 

A snapshot of why caregivers left work during COVID:

• When schools and daycares closed, millions of women left the job market to care for their children.
• The pandemic significantly impacted retail, leisure, food service and hospitality closings, forcing worker layoffs.
• Quarantines and sick family members have also played a key role in forcing women from the workforce.

The truth is, many of those caregivers want to return to the workforce—just more on their terms. They’re no longer hoping for work/life balance. They’re demanding it.

So, how do you effectively connect with them? From on-demand interviews to hybrid and remote work, you need to meet them where they’re at. But first, you need to get their attention. So, another tool in your arsenal should be drip campaigns and the HR tech to get it done right.

Drip campaigns for talent acquisition work

You want to attract and engage quality talent. To free up recruiters’ time, enlist drip campaigns to send a series of messages at prescribed times, driving candidates to apply for your jobs.

You can engage candidates (and employees) through automated communication with drip campaigns. AI can play a big role in the success of these campaigns, optimizing subject lines for the best results. AI can also fine-tune personalization. Predictive analytics uses complex algorithms, machine learning and customer data to predict future behavior based on previous interactions and data trends. Truth be told, 

AI can take on more of the work for you, too. In the same way, email subject lines can be automated and optimized, and so can email content.

AI-powered software can take pre-written copy, promotion, curated content, snippets from blog points, images and links — even machine-generated content — to produce optimized emails for a high engagement rate.

Finally, automation helps determine the ultimate timing for a drip campaign. Coupled with experimentation, data analysis and intuition, marketers can take an art-meets-science approach for the best odds of success.

Engage talent that wasn’t looking

Sometimes, the very best candidates aren’t looking for work. The good news is that technology solutions let you gauge their interest level and better understand them. Those same hiring campaign solutions also allow you to tailor different messages to different types of candidates and roles while growing more personalized with each subsequent interaction.

Meanwhile, it’s a chance to tell your brand story, allowing potential candidates to determine if your company and culture are a good fit.

(Check out the unique tactics you can engage with via generational hiring campaigns here.) 

Lean into our immersive HR recruitment platform

With the right technology on your side, bringing caregivers back to work isn’t a herculean task. It does the heavy lifting for you, including when it comes to hiring campaigns, freeing your recruiters to build relationships with candidates. After all, it’s the thing they do best and your best shot at finding right-fit talent with ease.

Want to learn more about today’s recruitment tactics?

Check out ways to accelerate your candidate connection.