COVID-19 Recruitment
When we created and published our COVID-19 Recruiter Toolkit we spent some time talking about COVID-19 Recruitment or lack there of. In the toolkit we said that recovery will be interesting and no one knows exactly how its going to play out. We posted the possibilities shown in the graph below
At the time of developing the toolkit we had no idea what to expect, but now we are in August and what we are starting to see unfold is the “roller coaster” recovery with one of the major impacts being the second (and probably third, fourth, with etc) waves of infection. At the time of writing this post, the hole state of Victoria (in Australia) has gone into lockdown – again. That is around 1/4 of Australia’s population. This lockdown will create another trough in the recovery line.
So what is COVID-19 Recruitment starting to look like
Now that we are five months into COVID-19 Recruitment we are starting to see some patterns emerge. Some markets have rebounded slightly. The retail and hospitality markets seem to have taken charge of that. The IT space didn’t really dip, especially those who supply to Government – and remember, many Small Businesses scrambled to get online as quickly as possible when the first lockdown came into play. This also seemed to be echoed through other parts of the world.
There is a massive change in process that all Recruiters need to adopt. These process changes are mainly around social distancing, and will impact Interviews, client visits etc.
COVID-19 Recruitment – False Economy
However the one thing we are seeing in Australia is a false economy that is being under pinned by government payments/supplements, which will be phased out soon. What will be interesting to see is if the money continues to flow when the supplement payments are ceased. For that to happen, unemployment needs to return to where it was – which it just isn’t going to do. So, if the money isn’t flowing through the economy, then we can safely say, that organisations who would have usually used recruitment firms, may tighten their belt and not use agencies, in fact don’t be surprised if you see an increase in demand for internal recruiters.
COVID-19 Recruitment – What to do next
Well we actually don’t know the answer to this. If you are a Recruitment Company owner and you still have a business and are looking at how to get ready for the kick, I think you will be waiting a while. If you are a Recruiter who is currently employed, sit tight and try and hang on as long as you can. If you are a recruiter who is unemployed at the moment think about re-skilling yourself in something like retail or IT. The evidence seems to be pointing towards this stop start type market so put some thought into how you can transition through the troughs or the stops. Obviously remote teams are essential, but think through unbundling of services etc.
Remember, these are tough times for everyone and what we are seeing is this thing is no where near done so be kind to yourself and others. If there is anything we can do to help you in these uncertain times then reach out on our Facebook page by clicking here or complete the following form and we will be in touch
Steve Begg is the Founder and CEO of Recruitment School. Steve is also the Chief Knowledge Enhancer of Recruitment School where he draws on his years of turn around experience to benefit you and your team in becoming more effective and profitable. Steve can be contacted through Recruitment School ([email protected]) or follow him on LinkedIn or connect with us on our Facebook Page.
