Lockdowns have become part of our lives that we are expected to accept, especially when it comes to work. The nature of this uncertain future has affected all industries around the globe. We take a closer look at the effect the pandemic has had on the recruitment sector, and what we have learnt from working remotely.
Last year was an extremely difficult one for recruiters to stay afloat, with many businesses halting their search for new staff whilst restrictions were in place. But this time around, in Guernsey at least, this has changed. Immediate observations at Firstcall when Guernsey’s 2nd lockdown began, were that many clients (and no doubt many other businesses) found it easier to switch to remote working whilst maintaining momentum.
With the unreliability of Covid waves and the global takeover of platforms such as Zoom and Teams, we have seen a large shift of recruitment processes moved online. Speaking to some of our candidates, the consensus seems to be that whilst the video conferences do not provide a like-for-like experience of in-person, they do bring a variety of benefits:
- Ease and flexibility
- Time saving with no requirement for travel
- Multiple interviews within the working week
Several of our clients have embraced flexibility towards working patterns, introducing working policies that allow staff to request ‘work from home’ days.
Many companies have sought to get as many of their staff back into the office following the move through the different stages of lockdown, with the preference to have staff working together under one roof being the predominant approach.
All but a few clients put a hold on their recruitment during the 2021 lockdown, the capability was there for not only interviewing but also on-boarding new team members remotely and having a 360 process that can work remotely.
Q1 of 2021 has seen our team supporting clients with finding staff for mid-tier permanent roles for those with two to seven years’ experience in trust, fund and corporate administration, fund accounting and audit.
Contract and temporary projects within remediation and file reviews have been hot on the agenda for employers too, ahead of GFSC deadlines. The market is full of options for those in these in-demand areas.
If you’d like to discuss employment opportunities, we’re always available to help. Contact us via: [email protected]
