Always Ask Why
Feature this scene: I am on my LinkedIn page and I have private messages from two people within minutes of each other.
In window #1, a friend of several years-- and a co-worker of several jobs-- who's just been laid off due to COVID-19. They're a star performer but only began their current job about 10 months ago. And their company followed a strict Last-In-First-Out method for making cuts. (Abysmally stupid but that is a rant for another day.)
In window #2, a recruiter looking for someone just like my friend in window #1. "In NYC". My friend in window #1 would blow the doors off this gig, and it would be amazing to hook them up with the gig in window #2. But they are on the Left Coast.
My BS alarm goes off right away. Why "in NYC?" Are they going to an office next Monday if they get the gig? Hell, no! So they will start as a remote worker, right? Why can't they just BE a remote worker?
But that's just the line I got from window #2: they can start remotely but "after the lock-down" they must be onsite. I tried to get window #2 to poke at this. If a client tells you it has to be onsite, ask WHY. Especially if they are willing to onboard remotely but then switch to the onsite requirement "after lock-down ends."
First off, I promise you, they have NO IDEA when-- or if-- the lock-down will end. Second, what is it about the job's requirements that allows working from home now but magically changes if the lock-down ends? If the job's information security requirements aren't compatible with WFH after lock-down, they aren't compatible with it now, either.
Recruiters, you are missing out on a lot of good prospects. People are already in enough uncertainty, THEY can't be sure if they will be able to move. Make your clients break their old useless mental habits.