Virus sees global recruitment grind to a halt

From new hirings to intra-company transfers, and from overseas assignments to graduate recruitment, the jobs markets across the globe have been crippled over the past two months by the Covid-19 pandemic.

David Sapsted

7 May 2020

Research by Broadbean, the world's largest network of job boards, suggested the drop in the usual hiring and job-posting activity in the US could be almost 80%.Huge falls were also recorded in countries with normally strong recruitment markets such as the UK, France, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Germany.

KPMG and REC: "Report on Jobs" survey

A snapshot of the situation in the UK was provided on Thursday by the latest 'Report on Jobs' survey from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), which showed recruitment for permanent staff appointments and temp billings fell at the sharpest rates in the survey’s 22-year history.Strict measures to contain the spread of the virus, including temporary company closures, also led to a record drop in overall vacancies, with weaker demand for staff also driving renewed falls in starting pay. At the same time, the availability of candidates rose at the steepest rate since 2009 amid widespread reports of redundancies.The report, compiled by IHS Markit from responses from about 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies, found substantial falls in demand for permanent workers across all monitored job categories, with the exception of healthcare.James Stewart, vice-chair at KPMG, said, “The Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the UK jobs market with a record drop in vacancies and recruitment plans frozen.“It’s an unprecedented situation for UK business and resilience, then recovery, is key to navigating through the crisis. All eyes will also be on the government’s forthcoming announcement on easing current restrictions so confidence in the jobs market can start to rebuild.”

Capacity for UK economic recovery: continued government support necessary

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, added, “These numbers set records in all the wrong ways – but they are not unexpected, given the lockdown and the hit the economy is taking.“The good news is that the capacity for our economy to recover quickly is definitely there – but we won’t get back to strong growth instantly when the lockdown eases."Government needs to work with businesses to ensure that the support they have offered tapers out as the economy returns to normal, rather than leaving firms facing a cliff-edge and having to cut costs quickly through things like higher redundancies. This approach will also allow firms to invest in the future – creating new jobs to drive the economy and help the UK bounce back.”

Where are the global jobs?

The situation is being replicated in developed nations across the world, but it is not all doom and gloom, according to Jessica Hodgson, human resources director at Later, a visual marketing platform in Vancouver, BC, with more than two million users.“There are jobs to be had,” she said. “The tech sector for sure is well positioned to handle this. There are also industries where they’re looking for more people. Anybody that’s involved in shipping, logistics, supply chain manufacturing, those people are still operating and still expect to be operational.”