Continuing to invest in our planet with hiring remote strategies

Remote and virtual hiring continues to help our environment & planet

The year is 1970. A gallon of gas cost 36 cents. The average monthly mortgage payment is $126.88. A gallon of milk is $1.32, and a dozen eggs cost 60 cents.

The average carbon emissions is 14.9 billion metric tons, and the world celebrated its first Earth Day.

Fast forward forty years, and we surpassed 34.8 billion metric tons of carbon emissions in 2020.

Today, the world looks a lot different. 

• The way we travel has changed—airfare is no longer viewed solely as a luxury with the emergence of budget-friendly airlines and business travel.
• Our styles of work have changed—we’ve adapted to remote and hybrid working, and many companies have embraced remote hiring.
• And in 2020, it was reported that 88% of public companies have ESG initiatives in place and about 66% of private companies have a program as well. 

The theme for Earth Day 2023 is Invest in Our Planet, and the data is clear: Companies have a responsibility to the planet and their employees to ensure they’re doing their part. 

Employees are driving change

At HireVue, we connect talent to opportunity and unlock the potential in everyone—because we believe each candidate is a human first. A human with beliefs and values that drive their lives.

Employees are opting to work for companies that are doing good in the world, choosing to work for companies that align with their values. 

Millennials and Gen Z are leading the charge of sustainability. According to NASDAQ, “75% of Millennials are eco-conscious to the point of changing their buying habits to favor environmentally-friendly products.” In addition, according to Forbes, “Fully three-quarters of Gen Z consumers state that sustainability is more important to them than brand name when making purchase decisions.” 

And remember that by 2029, estimates predict these two generations will make up 72% of the entire workforce.

Beyond the basic fundamental idea that investing in our planet is the right thing to do, it’s also smart. Creating company policies and standards of practice that support sustainability and a healthier earth not only does good for the planet but creates a workforce and culture where people feel aligned. 

Companies learned many lessons from the pandemic when it came to virtual working. Check out HireVue’s business continuity cheat sheet if you need help building a climate-resilient plan—one that can stand firm against the unexpected. 

Ethical and transparent reporting is a necessity

If we’ve established that your employees care about ESG, it’s fair to say there should be data to support initiatives. 

According to Proof, “Environmental and social data management is not an art, it’s a science that should be measured, quantified, explored, tested, and proven out based on clear, definable and observable benchmarks.”

Virtual hiring and remote working make a massive difference in the fight against carbon emissions. By committing to virtual hiring practices, HireVue and its customers can keep cars off the road and planes out of the sky—reducing unnecessary CO₂e emissions. 

HireVue believes in proven results—for our customers and the environment. HireVue has built an internal carbon footprint calculator for concerned clients and candidates that can measure the CO₂e emissions of virtual interviewing versus traditional interviewing. The calculator compares the estimated energy output for candidate computer usage (electricity), used for virtual interviews, to the travel mileage (transportation) required for on-site interviews.

We’re proud to share 3 stories of carbon emission savings from HireVue customers:

• MinterEllison is a HireVue customer that receives approximately 2,500 applicants every year for their graduate and clerk positions. Before HireVue, each of the applicants completed a psychometric assessment before shortlisted candidates were invited on-site for two rounds of interviews.

Now, MinterEllison has replaced the psychometric assessment with a HireVue game-based assessment and the first round of in-person interviews with a video assessment.Because of their commitment to virtual hiring, they have managed to reduce their carbon emissions by 20%. Without Hirevue, we would need to plant more than 100 trees to see the same carbon emissions savings.

• AES is another customer making an impact. The company has about 35,000 applicants every year, and before HireVue, about 55% of those applicants (around 19,000) would be invited on-site for in-person interviews. AES has since replaced the phone screening and in-person interviews with a HireVue video and game-based assessments. The interview is then shared with team leaders to evaluate the candidates. In the end, AES makes about 1,800 hires.

By simply incorporating HireVue video and game-based assessments, AES has managed to reduce their carbon emissions by 99%. Without HireVue, we would need to plant more than 13,000 trees to see the same carbon emissions savings.

• Lastly, ICON Clinical Research handles about 140,000 applicants every year. Before HireVue, after the initial applicant screening, the TA coordinator was contacting the successful candidates to arrange for their interview. The interview process was digital using Outlook. Now with HireVue, the team has replaced their initial screening process with HireVue OnDemand and Live interviewing, and interviews are being scheduled with Coordinate—allowing candidates to schedule and reschedule their own interviews. In the end, ICON hires about 12,000 of those applicants.

ICON has managed to reduce their carbon emissions by 12% by incorporating HireVue On Demand, Coordinate, and Live into their interviewing process. Without HireVue, we would need to plant more than 300 trees to see the same carbon emissions savings.

After calculating all the emissions saved for all HireVue customers in 2022:

• From over 35M+ virtual interviews, we saved our customers 90% of the CO₂ emissions produced during traditional new candidate interviewing by turning to virtual interviewing.
• This is equal to 18,000 metric tonnes of CO₂ emissions—which is equivalent to the carbon emissions absorbed by almost a million trees, or approximately 90,000 airline passengers, in the entire year.

HireVue is proud to have increased its carbon emission savings by 15% from last year—with savings of 75% in 2022. And we’ve more than tripled the savings from 2021. 

Allowing candidates to complete on-demand interviews or live interviews shrinks the collective carbon footprint—saving travel for both candidates and recruiters. Our solutions make hiring faster, fairer, and more flexible—but they’re also a healthier alternative for our planet. And since we only get one, we believe every person and company has a responsibility to do better.

Learn what HireVue can do for not only your hiring ROI but your environmental impact today.