The true impact of the Covid-19 pandemic – to the economy, to job markets, to our futures - won’t be known for a long time.
Redundancies are announced almost daily as small businesses find they can’t hang on any longer without any trade. Even household names that have been around for years - such as Oasis, Warehouse, Go Outdoors, Quiz, Monsoon, Antler, Debenhams, Cath Kidston, Autonomy, Brighthouse and Laura Ashley – have called in the administrators. Thousands of jobs lost.
As many businesses have now opened back up, new roles have appeared; the good news: there were 32% more advertised opportunities in June compared to the same period in 2019, according to CV Library. However, currently, there are far more candidates chasing them…a whopping 106% more, the same study reports.
The sales industry has had the most positions up for grabs, as businesses try to recoup lost income resulting from months in lockdown. The number of design and marketing roles available is particularly high, too - for the same reason, no doubt.
Recruitment Website Design will likely find an abundance of top talent in the market at the moment, searching for roles, which is a benefit to agencies that recruit for specific positions or in niche industries. It certainly looks like a busy time is on the cards. Any recruiter who is able to push forward their candidates and secure positions for those on their books will surely be an attractive solution at the moment, in comparison to candidates simply joining the masses and chasing openings on their own. Recruitment success should be shouted from the highest rooftops at this moment in time.
As one of the last industries to open its doors, the hospitality sector has certainly suffered. Lack of trade is reflected in the drop in job openings for workers in retail, catering and leisure. It’s still early days for hospitality, though; depending on the fallout of Super Saturday and subsequent weeks, i.e. whether the ‘R’ rate jumps, there may be more opportunities to come. And, despite the downturn, there was still a 57% rise in opportunities for bar staff and 63% more openings for waiting staff than in previous months, as reported by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).
Says REC’s Chief Executive, Neil Carberry, “While many hospitality and construction firms will start by taking staff off furlough, the market for new jobs in these sectors is starting to improve from the record lows of the past few months.”
Carberry believes that job openings in the sector will further increase once consumer spending in the sector kicks into gear. However, this depends on visitor confidence, and if they believe they would contract the virus in pubs, restaurants, etc.
Retail may also receive a boost if the rumours of a voucher scheme, courtesy of Chancellor Rishi Sunak, goes ahead. Though other suggestions have been touted to help boost the economy, such as a cut in VAT, it’s clear that anything would be better than nothing – which is what some poor business owners have earned during lockdown.
One sector that has reportedly not seen anything but an upturn during the pandemic (toilet roll manufacturers and hand sanitiser producers aside) is cybersecurity. As hacks and scams become more and more sophisticated as time marches on, so too must methods of prevention, which has kept cybersecurity professionals busy. Given also that data harvesting for nefarious and non-nefarious means has exploded over the last few years, talented techies are now a necessity for all larger public and private organisations – even governments - across the world.
There’s little doubt that some companies will manage to stay afloat through this pandemic whilst others will face some tough decisions - and this situation will play out across all sectors and sizes of business. Whilst the job market is currently flooded with candidates, there are, at least, jobs to be found. If the virus truly is receding into the shadows and no further lockdowns become necessary, recruitment will likely see an upward trend for a long while yet.
