From Job Post to Job Offer: 4 Ways AI Expedites Hiring

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Impact of COVID
Remote Mental Health
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The voice for the global staffing industry
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The Global Recruiter salutes all of the front line workers that
are currently fighting the Coronavirus Pandemic.
As all businesses face this period of uncertainty, we are here to
support you by broadcasting information and advice enabling
you to gain a better understanding of how the staffing industry
is working together to support the UK workforce. Keep up to
date via our news service on www.theglobalrecruiter.com
STAY SAFE, STAY HEALTHY, STAY HOME
WELCOME
NEWS
VIEW FROM WEC:
PROTECTING ALL
LEGAL: EMPLOYING IN
CRISIS
LEGAL: EMAIL TRIAL
TECHNOLOGY: TECH
GAMES
TALENTPOOL: ARE
MILLENIALS DIFFERENT?
ADVERTORIAL: SAAS
INNOVATION: FROM JOB
POST TO OFFER
UP CLOSE: NEW
EXPECTATIONS
SUPPORT SIDE: REMOTE
MENTAL HEALTH
RECRUITMENT LIVE:
COMMUNICATIONS ROUND
TABLE
MARGIN INDEX: PROMISES
PROMISES
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08
11
14
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22
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FURLOUGHED
ENGAGEMENT
NEWS 5
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In response to the increasing
number of recruitment companies
furloughing consultants due
to COVID-19, APSCo has
provided access to a number of
free licences for its ‘Essential
Compliance for Recruiters’
course, in an attempt to help
firms keep furloughed consultants
engaged and continue their
professional development.
The course, a joint venture
between APSCo and
Recruitment Juice, is a first for
the professional recruitment
sector and enables recruiters to
gain the Compliance+ Recruiter
accreditation, a best practice
quality standard for recruitment
consultants.
The course consists of a series of
videos, downloads and multiplechoice quizzes that cover a range
of compliance topics including
equality, diversity & discrimination
laws, preventing unconscious
bias, GDPR, and changes to
off-payroll working. The course
also contains a final assessment
which will give consultants
the Compliance+ Recruiter
accreditation.
Moya Rylands, Membership
Director at APSCo, commented
“In these testing times, APSCo
is doing everything in its power
to support recruiters and
consultants during COVID-19. We
understand how difficult it is to
keep furloughed workers engaged
and motivated, and therefore we
wanted to provide something that
would add value to individuals
and businesses.”
“With the large number of
furloughed consultants that will be
keen to carry on their professional
development, increasing access
to the Essential Recruitment
Compliance Course was a nobrainer. The course will not only
keep recruiters engaged and
provide them with information
that will limit future risk, but
also allow them to display the
Compliance+ accreditation on
all their correspondence – a real
differentiator for businesses.”
PAY SUPPLY
TEACHERS
Many schools are ignoring
specific instructions from the
Government which says that
public sector contingent workers
who are on live assignments but
cannot work due to COVID-19
should continue to be paid at
least eighty per cent of their
salaries by their employer – and
should not be furloughed. This
includes supply teachers working
in state funded schools but,
according to The Association of
Professional Staffing Companies
(APSCo), many schools have
either misunderstood – or are
ignoring – this latest guidance.
In short, this instruction requires
that all of the public sector
continues to pay contingent
workers eighty per cent of their
rates, via the relevant recruitment
firm, together with the pro-rated
margin. This is an attempt by
Government to ensure temporary
workers (whether agency worker,
umbrella worker or a contractor
working through a personal
services company) continue to
receive most of their contractual
earnings during any period
when they can’t work due to
COVID-19. It is also designed
to avoid the absurd scenario
where Government is claiming
money back from itself. However,
it seems that this is not always
being followed.
Commenting on the issue,
Samantha Hurley, Operations
Director at APSCo said:
“We have had reports of schools
asking recruitment firms to
furlough supply teachers and
then claim the eighty per cent of
pay back from the Government
which goes completely against
the rules and is akin to asking
recruiters, which have seen their
activity slashed, to basically act
as a bank for the public sector.
The guidance clearly states
that payment of the temporary
worker during this period
should be funded via the public
sector organisation that has the
temporary worker on assignment
and it is incumbent upon schools
to follow these rules.”
6 NEWS NEWS 7
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NEWS 7
FURLOUGH
EXTENSION
New CIPD survey of 1,000
employers highlights need for
furloughed workers to be able to
work reduced hours
Employers want to see the
Government’s Coronavirus Job
Retention Scheme (JRS) made
more flexible to allow furloughed
staff to work reduced hours and
for the scheme to be extended to
at least the end of September.
This is according to a new survey
of more than 1,000 employers
commissioned by the CIPD, the
professional body for HR and
people development. The CIPD
is warning that without these
changes, the current JRS could
prove to be a waiting room for
unemployment and fail to protect
significant numbers of the jobs it
set out to save.
The CIPD’s survey shows that
almost half (forty six per cent)
of employers have already
furloughed staff, while another ten
per cent plan to do so. However
more than three quarters of
employers that have already
furloughed staff (seventy six per
cent) or plan to furlough staff
(seventy eight per cent) said that
making the scheme more flexible
to enable furloughed staff to work
reduced hours would be useful.
Seven in ten employers (seventy
per cent) that have already used
or are considering using the
furlough scheme, said that up
to half of furloughed staff could
potentially work reduced hours,
while sixteen per cent of these
organisations reported that more
than fifty per cent of furloughed
staff could work reduced hours.
The CIPD says that changes to
the scheme to allow short-time
working would enable hundreds
of thousands of furloughed staff to
work in some capacity, helping to
protect jobs, support businesses
and reduce the burden on public
finances, as many employers
would require a lower wage
subsidy from the Government.
In addition to greater flexibility,
employers would also like the
JRS extended by three months,
to the end of September, with
sixty per cent identifying this as
the most important labour market
policy change that would help
them deal with the impact of
COVID-19. This is crucial given
that the CIPD’s survey suggests
that the JRS has played a vital
role in protecting jobs to-date,
with just seven per cent of
employers having already made
redundancies in response to
Covid-19 to-date, with a further
twelve per cent planning to.
CIPD Chief Executive, Peter
Cheese, commented:
“The Government has worked
A new wave of an ongoing study
conducted by Toluna and Harris
Interactive, two leading providers
of consumer intelligence,
assesses how UK employees are
coping with working life amidst
the COVID19 pandemic and
analyses their attitudes about
the future. It reveals employers
are likely to face challenges
rebuilding employee engagement
with the business and ensuring
a healthy organization when
lockdown ends.
The study was carried out on April
23, 2020 as part of a global study
which surveyed 607 employees
from the UK. The first wave was
conducted on April 01, 2020.
Key findings
UK employee engagement
remains significantly below
normal levels, while commitment,
motivation, and general
satisfaction with their job and
employer have declined.
Toluna Analysis: “Employee
engagement has taken a
major hit as a result of the
pandemic, even more so than
the financial crisis of 2008. This
week’s results indicate that
it could be some time before
organisations see employee
engagement bounce back to
pre-pandemic levels. It’s critical
for organisations to keep an ear
to the ground and understand
shifting sentiment so they can
swiftly take action to support
their workforce. Engagement
enhances business performance
and competitive advantage, so
rallying employees is paramount
to survival today and success
in the future as the landscape
begins to normalize,” said
Vijay Mistry, Head of Employee
Experience Research for Harris
Interactive and Toluna.
UK Employees are optimistic
and excited to get back to work
• 46 per cent of UK employees
feel they will return to their
normal place of work within
two months, as compared with
only twelve per cent more than
three weeks ago
• 57 per cent of UK employees
are either enthusiastic or
relieved about the thought
of returning to their normal
working arrangements
Toluna Analysis: “It’s clear that
UK workers have adapted well
to their new remote working
arrangements, but there is a
growing appetite for structure
and routine. Although employees
have accepted their current
situations as the ‘new normal’ and
hope to see greater flexibility in
working arrangements when they
return to an office environment,
they recognise the current worklife situation is not a permanent
one,” said Vijay Mistry, Head of
Employee Experience Research
for Harris Interactive
and Toluna.
Pressures on employees will
be heightened upon return to
work
• 25 per cent of employees
expect pressure to be
much higher, while half of
respondents think workloads
and job demands/pressure will
return to at least similar levels
• 36 per cent believe there
will be salary, promotion, or
recruitment freezes
• 30 per cent are expecting more
redundancies
Toluna Analysis: “Employees
are under no illusion that work-life
after the pandemic will return to
where it was. Employers can rest
assured that workers recognise
there will be major adjustments as
businesses attempt to get back on
track. In fact, employees expect
they will have to work harder with
fewer resources than before the
pandemic. They also understand
career opportunities and rewards
will be limited by comparison,
signalling their acknowledgement
of their role in the recovery of
the wider economy and future
success of their employer,” said
Vijay Mistry, Head of Employee
Experience Research for Harris
Interactive and Toluna.
Expected changes in workplaces
will centre on hygiene and
flexibility
• 67 per cent of respondents
believe hygiene and cleanliness
will improve
• 51 per cent think there will be
increased flexibility around
working hours and schedules
• 47 per cent expect to see
improvements around home
working arrangements, enabled
by the increased use of online
collaboration tools
Productivity at home increases
• Only 35 per cent of respondents
report they feel less productive
working remotely, in comparison
with forty per cent in Wave 1 of
the study
• Though a large proportion (44
per cent) of employees state
their workload is lower than
normal, five per cent more
employees feel their workload is
higher than normal
Toluna Analysis: “Businesses
have made excuses for years to
limit people from working remotely,
despite increasing employee
calls for flexibility. The excuse
of impossibility will no longer
hold up. Employees are not only
comfortable working remotely but
have demonstrated they can be
just as productive at home. As
a result, increased flexibility will
be an inevitable expectation that
employers will have to manage
when work-life starts to return to
normal,” said Vijay Mistry, Head of
Employee Experience Research
for Harris Interactive and Toluna.
Employees want increased
communication and teamwork
• 51 per cent want regular team
meetings
• 44 per cent want work to be
distributed evenly across their
team
• 41 per cent want regular updates
on the company (e.g. financial
and performance updates)
Toluna Analysis: “Our results
show employers have continued to
provide the necessary support to
remote workers and communicate
well throughout the pandemic, but
employees still want more support
to help them work effectively
and bridge the productivity gap.
Managers in particular must
ensure fairness and transparency,
which can be particularly difficult
when managing remotely,” said
Vijay Mistry, Head of Employee
Experience Research for Harris
Interactive and Toluna.
Mental and physical health
status
Mental health has increased
from 39 per cent reporting bad
mental health in Wave 1 to 32 per
cent in Wave 2. The driving factors
of mental health challenges are
general anxiety about the pandemic
and anxiety over health of friends
and/or family. Surprisingly, the lowest
contributors were anxieties about
their day-to-day job or job security.
Physical health has increased. 36
per cent of UK employees in Wave
1 reported bad health, which has
reduced to 23 per cent, and nine
per cent more now say it is good or
very good compared to normal (39
per cent). Where health is reported
as lower than before lockdown,
employees stated they have
adopted some bad behaviours,
most notably eating less healthily,
taking less exercise, and drinking
more alcohol.
Toluna Analysis: “Although
our results demonstrate a slight
improvement over the last three
weeks, the current and returning
workforce will likely not be as
mentally and physically well as
they were prior to the pandemic.
Employers must recognise
employees returning to work will
have adopted some bad habits
that could have an impact on their
effectiveness. Organisations that
have a strong focus on wellbeing
should be well prepared to deal
with the long-term effects of
employees’ fluctuating mental and
physical health,” said Vijay Mistry,
Head of Employee Experience
Research for Harris Interactive
and Toluna. n
New data from the Recruitment
& Employment Confederation
(REC) collected between 1 April
and 9 April shows that business
confidence in the economy has
plummeted to record lows since the
coronavirus crisis hit the UK.
The latest JobsOutlook report
shows that employer confidence
in the UK economy has dropped
to a net figure of -62. This is 39
percentage points lower than in
March, and the lowest confidence
figure recorded since the
JobsOutlook survey began in 2016.
Employer demand for permanent
staff has also fallen to a record
low. Forecast demand for
permanent staff in the next three
months fell by 26 percentage
points to a net figure of -9. This
measure has never dropped to
a negative before. Demand for
temporary workers is down by
less, at net: -4.
Despite these measures being at
record lows in early April, when
employers think
longer-term, it’s clear that a
recovery is on the cards as the
lockdown eases. Businesses said
that in the next 4-12 months they
would be looking to
hire permanent staff, with
medium-term demand sitting in
positive territory at net: +8.
Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of
the REC, said:
“We all know that the jobs market
has taken a hit, and this data
supports the story I am hearing
from businesses all over the
country. The short-term picture is
weak, and that has fed through to
hiring – especially for permanent
staff. But recovery is possible
– it’s clear that companies will
be looking to hire as soon as the
economy opens up again.
“Making sure government support
is effective will help businesses
bridge the gap. Right now,
speed and clarity matter most
on the Business Interruption
Loan Scheme and on how
furlough works – more support on
Statutory Sick Pay is also urgent.
This support from government
now will position recruiters to help
Britain recover from COVID-19.”
hard to get the job retention
scheme up and running so
quickly. However, urgent
decisions must now be taken
to make it more flexible and
to extend it so employers can
continue to protect jobs.
“Letting furloughed staff work
some hours, where possible, will
enable organisations to bring
back workers from furlough
gradually while rebuilding their
business. This will be vital as
lockdown measures are eased
over a number of weeks or
months, and will reduce the risk of
large-scale redundancies in this
next phase of the crisis.
“The Government must also
consider extending the scheme
to at least the end of September.
UNPRECEDENTED LOW
HIGHER EXPECTATIONS
This will provide more certainty
for employers and ensure that
there is no ‘cliff edge’ exit from
furlough straight to redundancy
for hundreds of thousands of
workers at the end of June.
“The Government has shown its
prepared to adapt and improve its
rescue packages for businesses
and workers as this crisis
develops. It needs to do so again
here. Equally, businesses must
play their part. We need to see
employers weigh up the ethical,
legal and financial considerations
of using the scheme, to act
openly and responsibly to ensure
that a more flexible system is not
abused, and that public money
goes to the businesses that need
it the most.”
Denis Pennel, Managing Director, World Employment
Confederation on the COVID-19 crisis.
VIEW FROM WEC 9
www.theglobalrecruiter.com
NEED TO
PROTECT
ALL
The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus poses a major and unprecedented
challenge to economies and societies worldwide. Needless to say, the
outbreak of the COVID-19 has severely impacted the private employment
services industry, like many other sectors across the economy.
As a core HR service provided by private employment services, agency
work has been particularly hit by the virus crisis, for two main reasons.
Firstly, because the level of activity of agency work is directly connected
to the evolution of GDP (which has faced a strong decrease due to the
much needed containment measures adopted by governments around
the world). Secondly, because agency work is a highly intensive labour
service, employing millions of workers across the globe.
In some countries, the COVID-19 crisis has cut down the number of
agency workers by fifty per cent to seventy per cent over the past couple
of weeks, which is an unprecedented situation.
Private employment services have been working around the clock to
re-allocate workers across the economy. While in many sectors the use of
agency work has been reduced dramatically due to lock-down measures
(manufacturing, hospitality, construction, culture & arts, non-food retail),
some other sectors are desperately looking for agency workers to make
up for the unexpected surge in activity: healthcare, retail (supermarkets),
transport and logistics, food processing. In these sectors, agency work
is being used to replace sick workers, those working from home or
unable to work because they need to take care of their children. In the
Netherlands, the industry has developed an on-line platform to share job
vacancies and reallocate workers suddenly out of work to assignments in
urgent need of workers.
From the industry’s point of view, the priority issue is, of course, the
impact on people’s health and wellbeing. Therefore, in countries affected
by the virus, measures have been adopted to protect agency workers as
well as the staff being employed in branches. Information about health
and safety at work has been actively disseminated (dedicated websites
have been created in most countries) and teleworking has been facilitated
where possible, thanks to digitalisation solutions that the industry has
been investing in for several years (job vacancies available on-line,
possibility to e-sign labour contracts, video-interviews, etc.). In Belgium,
the industry has asked the public authorities to close down the
services-to-individual sector as the only way to protect the health and
safety of its 140,000 workers (cleaning and ironing services organised via
a service-voucher system).
A second priority is to ensure that agency workers are being protected
against and compensated for the loss of work assignment. At national
level, WEC members have been liaising closely with governments to
ensure that agency workers are included and covered by short-time
working schemes, have the possibility to benefit from paid leave to take
care of their children and are being covered by sick leave measures
like any other workers. In the UK, the industry has been calling on the
government to fund statutory sick pay for every worker (including agency
workers), with quicker access to state support. In the Netherlands, the
agency work trade body has secured that agency workers will benefit
from all the COVID-19 relief measures that the Dutch government is
putting in place. The principle promoted by the World Employment
Confederation is that agency workers should be covered in the same
way as other workers when it comes to access to support measures
adopted by public authorities.
Last, but not least, the industry has implemented some specific
initiatives to protect agency workers. In Italy, a collective labour
agreement has been signed by social partners from the agency
work sector: ten million euros have been allocated from a solidarity
bipartite fund to protect the continuity of employment and pay of
agency workers. In France, agency workers have the possibility to
take on-line medical examinations (thanks to a partnership between
the sectoral social fund and Mediaviz).
All these measures illustrate that private employment services act
as a responsible and solution-orientated industry, in order to ensure
that all workers, particularly those in diverse forms of work, have the
social safety nets and protection they need in this unprecedented
situation. As in ordinary times, the private employment services
industry stands for its people and will do its utmost to support workers
navigating a stormy world of work. n
FINANCE 11
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EMPLOYING
AT A TIME
OF CRISIS
LEGAL 11
James Simpson, head of employment at Blaser Mills Law, considers the
staffing issues behind COVID-19.
With the number of coronavirus [COVID-19] cases continuing to
climb, the spread of the virus is so fast and wide-reaching that
it will likely affect most, if not all, employers around the world at
some stage.
Knowing where you stand legally during these times of uncertainty
can be overwhelming, but it’s crucial that you take the right steps in
order to lessen the potential for disputes. Here are some of the main
requirements you need to consider in order to protect yourself.
Understanding how to pay your staff
Any of your employees who are still working are entitled to
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if they need to self-isolate. This applies
not only if they have been diagnosed with coronavirus, but also if
they have any of the symptoms, for example a high temperature
or new continuous cough, or if someone in their household has
coronavirus symptoms. New measures mean SSP is now payable
from day one instead of day four for affected individuals. If an
employee or worker cannot work, they should inform you as soon
as possible with the reason.
It’s worth noting that, currently, employees may not be able to
provide you with a sick note as usual, and you should be flexible
about this. They can self-certify for the first seven days, following
which a notification via NHS 111 will need to be enough.
Reducing staff numbers
Many firms are experiencing a drastic decline in business as a
result of COVID-19. Customers socially distancing may lead to a
fall in sales and employees self-isolating could slow production.
As a result, you may need to consider reducing working hours or
staff numbers.
You must decide between short-time working and lay-offs, and
it is crucial to understand the difference between both and
what they could mean for your business and staff. ‘Short-time
working’ is when employees are provided with less work and
less pay for a short period. ‘Lay-offs’ are when employees are
not provided with any work or pay for a short period but are kept
on as employees.
These are both temporary cost-cutting measures you may use
when there is not enough work to go around. Short-time working
and lay-offs can help you avoid dismissals or permanent
redundancies, whilst reducing the burden on your business.
It’s important to note that if there is no clause permitting
lay-offs or short-time working in an employee’s terms, using
these measures will be a breach of contract, and the employee
will be entitled to resign and claim constructive dismissal.
Utilising government support
The Government Job Protection Scheme was recently
announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in a bid to protect jobs in
the UK. It means the government will reimburse up to 80 per cent
of ‘furloughed workers’ wages to a cap of £2,500 a month, per
employee, with payments being backdated to 1st March 2020. As
an employer, you can top up the 80 per cent if you wish, but you
do not have to do so.
Furloughed workers are employees who you have asked to stop
working as you cannot cover their salaries, but who you have
not made redundant.
Your employees will not automatically be designated as
furloughed workers – you still need to comply with employment
law and contractual provisions when ‘laying off’ the relevant
employees. This means that you cannot just impose the
change on an employee unless there is a right to vary in their
employment contract. You may need to go through the normal
redundancy procedures of identifying and consulting with at risk
employees, including the collective consultation requirements
where more than 20 employees are affected.
Seeking expert advice
This is a highly unusual time affecting businesses and working
practices considerably, but by taking the right steps and performing
strong due diligence, you can minimise liability issues.
If in doubt, seeking expert guidance can help ensure you are
approaching things in the right way, as well as save time and
money in the long run. Make sure you choose a respected lawyer
who understands employment law and the many nuances of your
obligations. The correct legal counsel can go a long way in ensuring
that once the worst of the pandemic is over, you come through the
other side unscathed. n
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Writing in the midst of the
distinctly dystopian
lockdown, one cannot help
but be forever grateful for the
integral role that technology
is playing in maintaining a
degree of normality in both
our professional and social
lives. What with notions of
human contact dissolving in
a new world that will be eerily
familiar to readers of JG
Ballard, the significance and
influence of tech platforms,
internet connectivity and
mobile devices have reached
an unprecedented zenith.
Suggestions that we will all
return to so-called ‘normal’
once the pandemic has
passed are little more than
whimsical musings with little
substance. By default, people
now wholly rely on their
broadband speed to connect
with the rest of the world be
it for commercial, social or
entertainment purposes.
In the recruitment and payroll
space, changes to the way
the industry conducts itself
will be seismic. Chatbots and
screening will replace
face-to-face interviews with
largely unqualified
consultants; commissionhungry umbrella salespeople
turning up at agencies
unannounced armed only
with a box of Krispy Kreme’s
will be (rightly) consigned to
history, as will the cash and
time-draining exhibition
programmes and ‘not to be
missed’ seminars which have
consistently failed to deliver
any value if truth be told.
The big flash office is already
synonymous with staff
inefficiency and unnecessary
overhead; clunky servers
whirring away in darkened
cupboards overseen by
ultra-protective IT managers
are now as obsolete as the
fax machine and symbolic
only of an old broken system.
It almost seems as if all these
macro factors are paving the
way for Solutio’s continued
advancement. Being
cloud-based, the system
operates independently with
automatic updates
eliminating any physical
interaction. With data entered
in a single instance and
shared across the contractor
supply chain, teams can
manage the platform from
home by sharing information,
authorising payments and
running ‘one-click’ payrolls
negating the need for that
flashy office. Workers are
empowered by Solutio’s
industry-leading mobile app
which facilitates, timesheets,
expenses, payments and
real-time communication.
The newly launched online
Solutio Academy helps
educate staff to master the
system at their leisure rather
than via costly in-house
training sessions. Featuring
over a hundred video tutorials
and a vast PDF library, the
Academy is a self-serving
resource that provides an
interactive learning platform
for all departments.
Add to this new features
including cash-matching, joint
employment module,
scheduled and consolidated
invoicing, plus auto-file
format mapping ensures the
moment to find out more
about Solutio is now.
Powered by Next Generation
Payroll Software
for Umbrella Companies & Recruiters…
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Options available
Training Academy
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Solutio Mobile App
Solutio’s cloud & app-based
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The cutting-edge interface
shares information with all
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Our clients benefit from
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EMAIL TRIAL
14 LEGAL
It’s vital that we understand
the implications an email
exchange can have
Stephen Taylor, Dispute Resolution and Insolvency Partner at Aaron & Partners
on how the High Court found binding contract could be created by emails.
Whether an exchange of emails between parties amounts to a binding
contract is often a source of dispute. In a world where we are all sending
emails daily, it’s vital that we understand the implications an email
exchange can have.
This is even more crucial given the circumstances the UK finds itself in
now be-cause of the COVID-9 pandemic. There has been a surge in
businesses wanting to pause or even back away from goods or services
they were previously committed to from their suppliers, so understanding
how the courts interpret the law around what constitutes a binding
contract has arguably never been more important.
An exchange of emails can easily contain all the elements required to
form a legally binding contract and therefore any parties negotiating via
emails need to be aware of what these are.
A contract requires the following elements:
• Offer;
• Acceptance;
• Consideration;
• Intention to create legal relations; and
• Certainty of terms.
This was recently at issue in the case of Athena Brand Ltd v Superdrug
Stores Plc [2019] EWHC 3503 (Comm). The Court concluded that an
email exchange between the two parties formed a binding contract,
despite the objections from Superdrug.
Extracts from the emails in question are below:[Email from representative of Athena] “Hi Iain
…Just to confirm, you are placing orders and committing to the yearly
quantity against all lines detailed below based on the ROS you have
provided… We have agreed that you will call off stock, in exactly the
same way as HiGlow, on an ad hoc basis within a 12-month period…
If you could drop me a note to confirm all of the above ASAP that would
be great, I shall then be in a position to push the button this end…”[Email from representative of Superdrug] “Hi Steph
Please go ahead with the below, happy on Nature’s Alchemist…”
Superdrug took first delivery of the products in October 2017 but they did
not sell as well as originally anticipated. As a result, Superdrug emailed
Athena in February 2018 to inform them that it would be unlikely to place
any further orders for that product.
Athena argued that the emails demonstrated a clear agreement that
committed Superdrug to purchase minimum quantities of products at
specified prices over a 12-month period. Athena calculated that to be a
cost of just under £980,000.
Superdrug’s defence was:
• The emails did not give rise to any agreement. Superdrug was not
committed to purchase any products until it issued a purchase order.
No purchase order was issued and therefore it was not bound to
purchase the products for the minimum quantities;
• If there was an express agreement, there was no intention of the
parties to create legal relations; and
• The buyer (a Mr Sissons) acting on behalf of Superdrug at that time,
did not have actual or ostensible authority to commit to any such
contract in any event.
The Court stated: “There is nothing in the history of the negotiations
capable of showing that Athena or an objective observer would have
understood that his apparent agreement to a minimum quantity was not
or could not be taken as being what it seemed or that in making it he did
not intend to bind Superdrug.
“There is no doubt that Athena relied on Mr Sisson’s confirmation as
binding Superdrug, and nothing in this evidence adduced is capable of
showing that it acted unreasonably in doing so.”
This ruling was a very important decision and the case demonstrated
that everyone should take care when corresponding with another party,
whether that is verbal exchanges, or seemingly informal exchanges
in writing including emails or, increasingly, other means of electronic
communication.
People often treat emails as an informal method of communication. This
judgment should act as both a reminder and a warning to businesses
and their employees or agents with the authority to negotiate agreements
that emails must be carefully considered and they can have far reaching
legal consequences. n
www.theglobalrecruiter.com
Damon Culbert from Cybersecurity Professionals, cyber security
jobs worldwide looks at methods in the recruitment process.
GAMIFICATION
IN TECH
www.theglobalrecruiter.com
With technology constantly advancing and cybercriminals finding new ways
to compromise computers every day, cyber security professionals are finding
it difficult to keep up. As a result, the global tech industry is short around 4
million specialists and it’s predicted that the UK alone will see a shortage of
3.5 million by 2021.
As more and more office chairs sit empty, recruiters are having to come up
with increasingly attractive ways to draw in the best candidates for their roles.
One strategy that a number of leading businesses have tried their hand at is
gamification.
With businesses using VR for immersive office tours or simulated challenges
and mixed reality experiences to make job applications seem more attractive,
gamification is having an interesting effect on the recruitment industry.
Traditionally, the tech shortage has been characterised by inflated wages
and social culture innovations to ensure promising candidates are kept in
much-needed roles. However, as the skills gap grows ever wider and new
technology emerges every day, recruiters are facing an uphill battle against
diminishing candidate numbers.
Why are we so short of tech skills?
These emerging technologies are of particular concern for cybersecurity
professionals. With every new interconnected device comes new
opportunities for vulnerabilities so businesses must be aware of the more
robust security needs of their offices. However, as this technology is still new,
there are fewer and fewer security professionals with the necessary skills,
further expanding the shortage.
In addition to the complex technical skill requirements of most businesses,
many recruitment professionals find tech vacancies, particularly at
management levels, difficult to fill due to a lack of soft skills. Where tech
professionals can evidence their technical ability, many lack skills in problem
solving, organisation and people management to progress into much-needed
management roles.
Are graduates ready for the workforce?
A concern that plagues most workforces, many businesses claim that
recent graduates in cyber security or computer science are unprepared for
work. For cyber security, this is especially significant thanks, in part, to the
rapid growth of the industry. Higher education institutions may already be
providing training which is nearly obsolete while new technologies which
are barely years old are leading business decisions around hiring.
Some universities may see this disconnect and conclude that to change
their curriculum to align with industry will only result in further obsolescence
in the near future. The biggest challenge facing the industry right now is
matching talent development with the rate of product innovation to ensure
that businesses can remain competitive while still being able to confidently
protect themselves and their clients.
Neither higher education institutions or businesses can do this alone so
collaboration will be essential in tackling the ever-widening gap both in the
UK and globally.
Why gamification?
Gamification is being used by recruiters as an alternative way to tackle
the skills shortage. By making the application process as interactive
and cutting-edge as possible, recruiters can draw in large numbers of
candidates to help boost their talent pools. Additionally, by engaging
candidates in unexpected ways, recruiters can gauge their skills more
completely before they enter the position. This could reduce the chances
of hiring a candidate who may have been more confident in a traditional
interview session but less competent in the actual role.
In the past, Jaguar used a mixed reality public code-breaking challenge
hosted on their website to find new engineers. The challenge was designed
to test creativity, lateral thinking and problem solving by asking candidates
to assemble an electric Jaguar sports car. This challenge would have
been completely impossible without VR and enabled the team to assess
candidates’ soft skills before placing them in a work situation, improving the
quality of candidates that were then considered for the role.
TECHNOLOGY 17
The issues with gamification
However, recruitment strategies like this are unlikely to bring any
improvements to the skills shortage being felt from top to bottom across
the digital sector. If recruitment professionals believe the issues are a lack
of skills and experience, investing huge amounts of money and time into
specialist projects doesn’t bring much enrichment to those candidates
who need experience to develop their employability.
Additionally, while it might be beneficial for large organisations,
the prohibitive cost means it would be almost impossible for small
businesses. With almost half of all cybercrimes targeting small
businesses security skills need to be developed everywhere to avoid
those at the bottom suffering the harshest consequences.
How can we start to close the skills gap long-term?
Integration between businesses & education. The most in-demand
high-level technical skill in the UK is penetration testing, with 53 per cent
of organisations saying they aren’t confident in undertaking the test. In
contrast, only one higher education course listed on the UCAS website
includes the word ‘penetration testing’. New technology fields like cloud
computing and IoT are only featured three times and twice respectively.
Businesses and educational institutions will need to work cooperatively
to tackle the most vulnerable areas of expertise and start finding solutions
for the skills gap.
Emphasis on soft skills training
In the same vein, graduates should be prepared with the necessary
soft skills to immediately enter the workforce. This could be achieved
through more focus on soft skills training in higher education and further
opportunities for work experience during study. Businesses could also
work together with universities to run competitions or challenges which
could even introduce gamification strategies to get students involved in
cybersecurity before they have even graduated.
Prioritising training in entry-level jobs
Additionally, not all entrants into the cybersecurity industry come from
higher education. The onus, therefore, is not entirely on universities to
develop workers. Businesses who find that they are unable to secure
candidates with the relevant professional and social qualifications should
focus on in-work training. Whether that’s encouraging entry-level staff
to gain professional certification for specialist fields or by implementing
management training to develop staff members’ workplace skills.
Improving gender imbalance
Another glaring issue with the cyber security industry which could be
having a direct effect on the skills gap is its lack of diversity. In the UK,
only seventeen per cent of the UK’s tech force are women and cyber
security staff make up a small percentage of the tech force as a whole.
Making STEM fields more welcoming for women and encouraging women
to explore career prospects in cyber security could offer an advantageous
opportunity to reduce the skills gap over time.
The issue of the cyber security skills gap is highly complicated and
a straightforward solution is unlikely to emerge any time soon. The
introduction of gamification to source the most competitive candidates for
roles is unlikely to be an effective strategy for any business to develop
their security resources. On the other hand, using new technology to
identify skilled candidates outside of the traditional interview process
could be an effective way of recruiting workers who may have the skills
but are less able to demonstrate them in conventional interviews.
With gamification often being cost-intensive and focused on spectacle,
its use in recruitment is still uncommon and is mostly for the benefit of
major organisations over small businesses. At a time of such profound
need for some of the world’s most advanced industries, businesses of all
sizes should be working to nurture talent as much as possible rather than
making employment even more competitive. n Many businesses claim that recent
graduates in cyber security or computer
science are unprepared for work
18 FINANCE
ARE MILLENIALS
REALLY
DIFFERENT?
TALENT POOL 19
www.theglobalrecruiter.com
The eyes roll. That happens often when I speak to law firm
partners or general counsel and the topic of “Millennials”
comes up in the conversation.
Much has been written (and spoken) about the generalised,
and unique characteristics, attributes or character of millennials
—often incorporating the suspicion that millennials are somehow
genetically different from other generational categories.
Millennials often are described, only in slight exaggeration,
as either optimistic, socially conscious digital natives or
self-entitled, fragile, indulgent layabouts, who are prone to
switching jobs. These stereotypes in turn have prompted
many studies focusing on millennials—their views, aspirations,
inclinations, proclivities, etc.
A recent study by MLA and Above the Law—2019 Millennial
Attorney Survey, New Expectations, Evolving Beliefs and
Shifting Career Goals (Millennial Attorney Survey)—examines
the perspectives of what currently is the largest cohort of the
legal profession, and how their “unique” working style has
shifted workplace dynamics. Some key findings include:
• Work-life balance remains the top priority for millennial
lawyers. Nearly seventy five per cent would trade a portion of
their compensation for either more time off, a flexible work
schedule, or a cut in billable hours;
• Commitment to work-life balance, compensation and
commitment to training and professional development in
evaluating an employer;
• While seventy per cent of millennials self-described as
loyal, over seventy five per cent were either open to new job
opportunities or actively seeking them;
• Dissatisfaction with compensation (twenty nine per cent) and
management/firm culture (twenty two per cent) were the top
two reasons cited by those seeking new opportunities;
• Fifty one per cent agree that the law firm business model is
fundamentally broken;
• Sixty six per cent agree that law firm partnership is less
desirable than it was a generation ago, while forty per cent
of millennial lawyers view partnership as their long-term
career goal
• Sixty two per cent agree that millennials are transforming law
firm policies and culture for the better
• Forty five per cent of women strongly agree that law firm
culture is sexist, compared to fourteen per cent of men.
• Fifty six per cent of women strongly agree that there is a
gender pay gap, compared to eighteen per cent of men.
At first blush, one may interpret these results to confirm the
thesis that millennials are somehow different from the older
generations in the legal profession – Generation X and the baby
boomer generation. However, as we don’t have information on
how different generational groupings would have answered the
same questions at the same corresponding age, we shouldn’t
jump to conclusions too quickly.
Let me offer another perspective. Even if millennials are
somehow “different”, does it really matter? From the
perspectives of talent acquisition and talent development, are
we even asking the right question?
What is important to organisations is the challenge of fostering
“employee engagement”. Employee engagement can be
described as the emotional commitment an employee has to the
organisation and its goals, resulting in focused deployment of
discretionary effort. An employee’s discretionary effort triggers
a chain of consequences that create positive economic results.
Kruse has catalogued multiple research and studies confirming
that a high level of employee engagement correlates directly with
metrics of success. When employees care more, they are more
productive, provide better service, and stay longer in their jobs
(ie., more loyal). Engaged employees lead to happier customers,
who buy more and become advocates of the organisation, which
drive sales, profits and ultimately shareholder returns. >
Duc V. Trang of Major,
Lindsey & Africa discusses
a generation of workers in
the legal profession.
©Kevin Kruse
customer
satisfaction
service
customer
loyalty
customer
satisfaction
retention
productivity
growth
profit
Millennials often are described,
only in slight exaggeration, as
either optimistic, socially conscious
digital natives or self-entitled,
fragile, indulgent layabouts, who
are prone to switching jobs
20 FINANCE
What does employee engagement have to do
with millennials?
The problems underlying employee engagement pre-date the
emergence of millennials as the dominant workplace cohort.
The characteristics for which millennials are often criticised
correspond with the consequences of a disengaged workforce:
disloyalty, lack of resilience, switching jobs, hard to please,
slackers, etc. These attributes reflect long-standing problems
present in many companies and professions that have low
employee engagement, across generational classifications.
Perhaps millennials are “different” in that they are less willing
to remain with one employer and accept what they view as
shortcomings in the law firm or legal professional environment,
as described in the Millennial Lawyers Survey. Or, perhaps
Gen X-ers and baby boomers have a higher tolerance level
or willingness to put up with non-ideal work environments.
Although how millennials respond to those problems may
differ from other generational groupings, identifying those
generational differences – real or perceived – does little to
address underlying employee (dis)engagement found in many
industries, including the legal profession.
Let’s return to the Millennial Attorney Survey. Many of the
findings in the survey reflect observations that are familiar
when discussing the challenge most companies have in
sustaining an “engaged” workforce. For example, the desire
for work-life balance (e.g., reflecting the law firm’s focus on
maximising billable hours); belief in the organisation’s purpose
(e.g., viability of law firm business model and purpose); the fit
of the individual in the organisation’s future (e.g., commitment
to training and professional development and desirability of
law firm partnership); and dissatisfaction with an organisation’s
management and culture (e.g., viability of law firm business
model and sexism/pay gap, respective).
In the law firm context, all of these challenges concern not only
millennials, but Generation X and baby boomer lawyers. Further,
these concerns have been identified long before the emergence
of millennials as a sizeable work force.
Instead of focusing on millennials, law firms and organisations
would do well to focus attention and investments on what they
can do to increase the engagement of its entire workforce,
irrespective of where they fall in generational groupings.
What can law firms do?
Law firms should consider investments in two key areas:
Organisational Purpose and Individual Growth.
Loyalty and engagement come directly from (1) working for an
organisation that has a meaningful purpose, and (2) when the
employee has both the skills and opportunity to engage in work
that is engaging and purposeful. In attempting to define these
concepts, it is useful to consider this—multiple recent studies
(i.e., Lexis-Nexis/Judge School, ALM Intelligence, AdvanceLaw)
confirm that clients perceive real value when lawyers (and law
firms) deliver not only legal expertise, but help clients solve the
underlying business problem, only one component of which may
be legal. This notion of client-centricity and lawyers playing the
role of a “trusted advisor” (beyond technical, legal expertise)
have long been identified, but many firms continue to fare poorly
in developing in their lawyers.
• Culture, Purpose & Trust: Employees are more engaged when
they believe that their organisation exists for a meaningful,
positive purpose, and that management is committed to such
purpose. Law firm management will need to craft and deploy an
organisational purpose and culture that go beyond the firm’s and
the partners’ monetary success, and one that is intimately tied to
the success of their clients. Beyond the communication of such
messages, developing a law firm purpose capable of inspiring
and cultivating employee engagement will need to be reinforced
by actual practice. For example, a firm’s purpose of achieving
success for clients will often come into conflict with the primary
success metric measured by the partner’s profitability, or where
lawyers are rewarded for billing more hours. That tension will need
to be resolved.
• Individual Growth: Law firms, consistent with the findings of
the Millennial Lawyers Survey, will need to rethink learning and
development. Most firms historically have focused the early years
of a lawyer’s training on technical legal expertise. The commercial
intelligence and judgment that clients demand is often left to
experiential training, which learning theory suggests is highly
inefficient and leaves significant gaps. As a result, many smart
young lawyers are saddled with non-complex, menial work. Is it a
surprise then that many are disenchanted, bored, etc.? Law firm
training will need to be re-imagined and designed so that younger
lawyers can learn quickly the commercial and real life-context
of their clients’ problems. This will allow them to accelerate the
ability to exercise judgment on when to apply certain legal skills to
help solve their clients’ problems. Those skills will enable younger
lawyers to work directly with clients earlier in their careers—much
more meaningful (and, more profitable for firms) than simply
working on documentation.
Both of these changes are hard. And not because of the trope that
lawyers are pre-disposed to resist change. It takes real leadership
and commitment from law firm management, which is often
missing. On the other side of the coin, lawyers are smart—they
don’t resist change; they resist “bull–it”. The changes the legal
profession is undergoing have multiple causes, one of which has
been (mis)identified as the role of millennials. Instead of focusing
on generational stereotypes, law firms will generate greater returns
on investments by focusing on the very real and difficult task of
cultivating and nurturing employee engagement. n
TALENT POOL 21
Being an effective recruitment company means being efficient,
agile and forward thinking. As the demands on talent in general
and within specific markets change and evolve the recruitment
companies who will benefit and thrive are those who can
swiftly match their clients’ expectations with their candidates’
aspirations. Under-pinning this level of service has to be
excellent technology, provided in a way that will adapt and
reflect the requirements of the company.
Software as a Service offers precisely this level of flexibility.
With the solution hosted externally and access delivered to
users across whatever device they want to use and wherever
they may be, it means a recruitment agency is always operating
using the latest up-to-date data and in a connected way.
Diverse recruitment related solutions can be delivered this
way offering recruitment businesses the chance to gain the
best options for their particular businesses. Updates and
improvements to the platform can be made centrally ensuring
everyone is working on the same solution at the same time.
In addition to this, compliance issues, whether process based
or through GDPR can be automatically handled by the solution.
Recruitment systems can be designed in such a way as to
ensure consultants always follow the correct procedures and
that dealing with and sharing information around the business
is done safely and securely and to everyone’s expectations.
As the technology world become more mobile, more data rich,
and more integrated into everyday life, using Software as a
Service solutions will mean recruitment companies can offer
their consultants a level of technology use they experience in
other parts of their lives.
Sourcing your recruitment technology through Software as
a Service offers recruitment companies the flexibility and
functionality their consultants need, wherever they are
working. With the right solution, the recruitment business
can benefit from:
• the very latest solutions with updates delivered automatically
• access to the data and functionality your recruitment
consultants need wherever they may be
• potential for real-time updates removing any time lag on data
and keeping everyone up to date
• strategic reporting to direct business leaders, motivate
consultants and improve services
With the solution hosted centrally, Software as a Service means
your business will always have access to the latest solutions
and the latest data. It means you are offering your workers
access to the latest solutions, reflecting technology use in the
wider world. n
SOFTWARE
AS A SERVICE
22 ADVERTORIAL
ESSENTIALLY
SAAS
SUPPLY SIDE 25
From desktop clients and communications to business
applications, Software as a Service (SaaS) is starting to become
essential to businesses in every sector. But why is it important
to recruitment and why now?
SaaS is a huge part of business, with an estimated growth rate
of eighteen per cent annually and global SaaS workloads are
expected to reach 380 million by 2021. These figures show that
cloud-based platforms are here to stay. In fact, SaaS spending
per employee is higher than the average annual spend on IT
equipment for employees alone.
With an increasingly mobile workforce, the ability to access
data remotely, is more important than ever. With thirty per cent
of the UK workforce working from home at some point in 2019
(and as much as sixty percent globally) and over five million
UK workers self-employed, access to software like timesheets,
invoicing and reporting through a web portal removes reliance
on specific operating systems and is crucial, especially where
non-furloughed workers are increasingly working remotely.
There are great savings available in not relying on complicated
IT systems, end-to-end security testing, and costly roll-out
periods. With cloud-based applications, developers can
carry out security and maintenance work without disrupting
day-to-day business.
Traditionally with web-based systems you can add and reduce
user licences, making the software as flexible and agile as your
business needs to be. This benefit can be greatly increased
when you can scale your platform based on end-users, data
usage, and storage. Paired with the reduced risk of human error
and inevitable faster processes, using a flexible SaaS just
makes sense.
“It’s great to see SaaS benefitting agencies. Flexible platforms
that scale based on your contractors means you potentially
see huge savings without the burden of monthly costs and
unnecessary recurring fees” says John Hetherington, UK Sales
Manager of Practical Software. He’s aware that expensive
in-house systems and non-agile platforms can harm a
businesses’ bottom line and stop them from expanding with
their market. “Having a scaleable system, especially in uncertain
times, means there is less risk for the business and savings can
www.theglobalrecruiter.com
potentially be passed on to clients. Businesses that are scaling
down due to the virus are seeing these benefits.”
While the impact of coronavirus is felt in a lot of industries right
now, recruiters are most likely pausing permanent hiring plans
and seeing a drop in contract and temp placements. Having an
expert support system can reduce a huge amount of concern
over unnecessary costs while things are in a constant state
of flux. But the appeal of modular systems goes beyond this.
Increasingly, businesses are picking software tailored to them
and their industry. With white labelling becoming more common
as well, suppliers can offer something that provides a more
holistic user experience that maintains and even increases
brand equity.
John firmly believes that now is a great time to review software
requirements “we’re still seeing a lot of interest in moving to
platforms that fit the customers’ business as opposed to the
other way around. It’s important to recruiters that whatever
system they use, it can fit to their workload and contract
requirements” He feels strongly that there are cost benefits to
be had from the adoption of systems like Practical Software.
“It’s not just the ability to fit the software to the business, but the
reduction in staff training which can all be done on an ad-hoc
basis, rather than relying on costly in-house sessions.”
Ultimately SaaS offers a whole host of benefits, to suppliers
and users. Although prohibitive to SMEs, larger businesses can
implement their own systems with their own cloud services.
Removing the cost of these services by moving to a third-party
hosted platform, especially for smaller businesses, can create
greater value for the business, and a better user experience for
both staff and customers. n
24 SUPPLY SIDE
Martin Snyder, Co-Founder and Principal of PCRecruiter / Main
Sequence Technology weighs up your options.
TO SAAS OR
NOT TO SAAS
When our company started producing recruitment software over
twenty years ago, there was still a distinct occupational separation
between software developers, internet service providers, server
technicians, and database administrators. Our programmers would
create the software and then it would be distributed to the users (often
via mail on CD-ROM) to be installed and maintained by a technical
professional on individual PCs or a centralized office server. In the
best cases that tech person was retained after the setup, but often
the management of the technical aspects shifted to the company’s
managers or to the account executives, wasting valuable recruitment
time on troubleshooting, database backups, software updates, and
hardware upgrades.
Over the years we’ve seen the roles of developer, tech, and
administrator converge into roles called DevOps, merging with massive
public cloud offerings from Amazon, Microsoft, and others to form
the everyday SaaS model we’re all familiar with, where the vendor is
responsible for writing the code, managing the infrastructure, securing
the data, and supporting the users. This model is certainly more
sustainable for providers like us, as our days of managing a patchwork
of hardware configurations and multiple software versions are in the
past. We also enjoy the economic benefits of a recurring revenue
stream, which makes predictable long-term development planning and
steady maintenance possible.
The advantages to recruiters are also substantial, including time saved
on technical tasks, the flexibility to access the same system from
anywhere, and a much higher quality software at a lower price. The
growth of APIs over the past decade has led to an expansive network
of integrated services that would be impossible to implement over
thousands of individual local networks, but which a SaaS provider can
plug into to offer more powerful capabilities at minimized cost.
Nonetheless, our company is one of a limited number of vendors still
offering locally-installed versions of our solutions. Why? Because
every recruitment firm, staffing agency, or sourcing team has distinct
needs and capabilities, and for some a licensed installation offers
important advantages. While the scale increasingly tips toward SaaS
(and we’ve seen several of our traditionally self-hosted clients pack
up their data and move to our hosting service in recent years), certain
business cases point the other way.
For example, a recruitment firm or HR department that has a large
number of users, a pre-existing database / server infrastructure, and a
fixed-cost technical team may realize major lifecycle cost reductions.
Beyond the cost savings, there are also those for whom security and
connectivity / integration needs may tip the scale. With our solutions,
each SaaS customer gets their own private database on our private
cloud, which is operated with constantly-evolving control objectives for
security and availability. However, it is not uncommon for government
agencies or certain organizations to have a similar level of secure
infrastructure. Furthermore, some clients have legal or contractual
requirements to keep candidate and position data on private
hardware, a need for direct access to the data rather than connecting
via an API, or networking limitations that make it difficult to connect to
cloud services.
The choice of a recruitment CRM/ATS is a critical one for any
business. It may take research to decide whether the product’s
abilities and the company behind it are a good fit for your business.
But when it comes to the choice of whether to go with a SaaS,
remember that while the SaaS model is overwhelmingly favoured,
there are still valid reasons to choose a local option. n
John Hetherington, UK Sales Manager, Practical Software on
the importance of accepting the service model.
Software as a Service
(SaaS) is starting to
become essential to
businesses in every sector
INNOVATION 27
Niraj Patel, SVP for Artificial Intelligence,
DMI gives four ways AI expedites hiring.
As the Coronavirus impacts businesses across the globe, many
organisations will be forced to review their hiring plans and
processes. Early impact of the pandemic has already been felt in
travel, tourism and manufacturing, with implications set to spread
further before the economy rebounds.
And when it does, hiring managers will be under pressure to
quickly staff offices, factories, services and teams. In this
high-stakes recruitment landscape, artificial intelligence (AI)
software solutions offer more opportunities than ever for
companies to expedite hiring and reduce time-to-fill on vacancies.
From Job Post to Offer
On average, time-to-fill – the number of days from posting a role
to a candidate signing a contract – is around forty two days.
For senior and executive roles, highly-skilled occupations such
as engineering, IT and science for example, this timeframe can
increase by twenty or more days.
Factor in notice periods and businesses can face gaps of more
than six weeks between outgoing and incoming employees. This
can significantly impact a company’s productivity, customer
service, internal resources and – in the current economic situation
– the ability to keep business moving.
Recruiters are facing a fundamentally altered recruitment
landscape, with a larger pool of candidates applying for each
role, as well as increasing pressure on hiring managers to attract,
identify, engage and attract world class talent.
Coupled with this is an increased reliance on remote working to
keep operations running during emergencies like the Coronavirus
pandemic. Thus, the net for candidates is spread across a broader
geography and is likely to prompt more widespread use of video
interviewing, as seen among companies [DS1] such as Twitter,
Google, Amazon and Target.
Expediting the hiring process
Utilizing AI to filter resumes and schedule interviews is quickly
becoming more mainstream. But here are four additional ways in
which AI can be applied to expedite the hiring process:
1. Talent Pool Expansion
AI can trawl and assimilate millions of data points across both a
company’s own internal documents (e.g. recruitment databases)
and external information, such as social media networks (e.g.
FROM JOB POST TO OFFER
tool for reducing bias in recruitment and promoting diversity and
inclusion. In early screening and throughout interviews, AI analytics
can ensure diverse representation and avoid human bias.
4. Personalized engagement
In 2020, candidate engagement will be a key focus for employers
to convert quality candidates into quality hires. The millennial
generation makes up about half of the American workforce
and early Generation Z’ers are also well into employment age.
Generation Z in particular is said to crave connection and prefer
person-to-person contact, so it is important that AI is applied
with that in mind to enhance the recruitment process, rather than
remove those vital touch-points connecting a candidate to their
potential employer…and vice versa.
AI offers a chance to deeply analyze a candidate using millions of
data points across the web – including professional networking
profiles, social media activity, work or reviews published online
and the resume – to draw out information on what motivates,
incentivizes and excites candidates.
It also can identify a candidate’s personal traits, such as
preferences, values and ambitions, which provide rich insight
on their ‘persona’. Armed with this information, hiring teams can
apply advanced principles of personalized marketing to construct
more compelling candidate engagement – from wording of the
job posting and initial candidate outreach, to preferred modes of
contact, interview structure and salary discussions.
Furthermore, a common frustration for candidates is a lack of
feedback on the status of their application. AI-powered chatbots
and communications enhances the candidate experience with
real-time feedback as the candidate progresses through the
recruiting pathway.
Is your business ready for AI-powered recruitment?
AI is set to further transform the hiring process, becoming more
widely and creatively implemented within packaged software
solutions. It will enable more businesses to create an intelligent
and analytical approach to handling vast quantities of data, in
search of higher quality talent.
Reducing time-to-fill is – and will remain – a key performance
indicator for hiring managers, since vacancies remaining open for
the long term is costly. Further use of AI is a wise investment to
reduce time and cost, but also to de-risk hiring through examination
of candidate personas and elevated levels of personalized
communication, from job post to requisition close. n
Linkedin and Facebook), as well as niche organisations for
particular sectors (e.g. a lunch club for engineers).
That means it can not only sift through a higher influx of
applications per job post, but also track past employees and
previous applicants to re-engage promising talent.
Powered by AI, “candidate rediscovery” is also becoming more
widely recognized as a way to reduce time-to-fill, as it re-engages
with people already familiar with, and familiar to the organization.
Such candidates move through the introduction and familiarization
stages quicker and, with the right algorithms, can be a lower risk
hire. AI is now making candidate re-discovery less cumbersome,
costly and demanding of human time.
AI can also search colleague and candidate affiliations through
someone’s career history – for example, by trawling professional
networks and alumni groups – to flag passive candidates that are
potentially suited for a role.
2. Chatbot communications
AI offers heightened opportunities to automate routine
communications and provide an “always-on” chatbot for
frequently asked questions, freeing HR professionals to focus
on more strategic work. Depending on the program, AI can
handle queries by phone, email or online chat.
Online thrift store, ThredUp, deploys SMS-based chatbots to
hire 100 to 200 employees each month. When fast, high-volume
hiring is the priority, automation of rote tasks offers a chance to
greatly enhance efficiencies. In this case, AI handles everything
from scheduling a phone screening to providing new hires with
directions for their first day on site.
Not every company can automate such a large proportion of the
process, but there are key areas where chatbots can speed
time-to-hire. For example, chatbots can scan calls and
communications to identify actions such as ‘send letter’ and
‘schedule interview’, with automated activation. Chatbots
are also a 24/7 resource for routine inquiries, such as driving
directions to an interview, benefits packages, dress code and
other frequently asked questions.
Equipping chatbots to handle routine tasks also lowers cost per
hire, another critical KPI for hiring teams, as well as providing an
opportunity to reduce email traffic.
3. Interviewing
AI is most commonly applied at the screening stage, with many
companies running skills and psychographic tests to filter
applications. Even prior to the Coronavirus outbreak, fifty percent
of US firms utilized AI to screen resumes and shortlist candidates.
Though it’s unlikely that AI-powered interfaces will entirely replace
humans, there are plenty of interview phase opportunities where AI
can speed processes and deliver analysis to support faster, better
informed decision-making.
Already – and increasingly – AI technology will be applied in
early-stage interviews where facial and linguistics analysis
programmes can augment human assessment, reduce bias and also
identify soft skills – such as communication, leadership, creativity and
decision-making – that are increasingly prized by U.S. employers.
In concert with an expectation that video interviewing will rise as
the net for employment is cast wider and remote work is more
prevalent, AI will gain traction in analyzing the language, tone
and facial expressions of candidates to indicate suitability for
a role and predict future performance. Real-time analytics and
comparison reports provide unprecedented levels of insight into
the character and skills of candidates, which can be matched
against an ‘ideal employee’ profile.
On a related note, AI, when correctly maintained, is an effective
NEW
EXPECTATIONS
Martin Wainman, Managing Director at Omni Resource Management
Solutions, discusses the impact of the current situation.
UP CLOSE 29
What about businesses that weren’t closely aligned
to their values until now?
First and foremost, it’s not too late to get reacquainted. Revisit your
values to make sure they still apply. It’s not about spending hours
redrafting them but perhaps considering adding new ones that pertain
to creativity and collaboration.
Provide examples to your team as to how the values have guided the
business through this time, explaining how that translates to individuals
and the ways they can embed them into everyday tasks.
Already, we’re seeing the culture of our clients improve thanks to a
renewed focus on values, especially when it comes to new starters.
Initiatives including appointing mentors, holding virtual inductions (both
company and team level) with different team members (not just HR)
and developing dedicated collateral for attraction and onboarding have
been successfully introduced.
What about the effect the pandemic will have on
the attitude of jobseekers?
There’s no doubt that both candidates and current employees will
retrospectively hold employers to account by how they behaved
throughout the pandemic. Whereas previously, questions regarding
loyalty and ambition were solely aimed at candidates in a recruitment
process, employers are likely to find similar enquiries fired back at
them. We fully expect (and will actively encourage) candidates to ask
prospective employers about how the company and its senior team
managed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as what measures
were in place to protect employees.
We’ve seen large employers publicly reverse decisions that although
protected them in the short-term were quickly identified to be damaging
to their brand as well as their ability to recruit the best talent in the future.
Sports Direct, for example, found itself on the wrong side of popular
opinion following attempts to keep its stores open, arguing that exercise
equipment counts as an essential service. Following public backlash and
a YouGov poll that revealed eighty eight per cent of Brits did not class
sports equipment stores as a key service, Sports Direct closed its doors.
Additionally, Liverpool FC performed a stunning U-turn after announcing
it was going furlough non-playing staff and subsequently facing fierce
backlash from fans. Both moves demonstrate the changing employer/
employee dynamic and a heightened sense of social conscience.
It goes further than putting a positive PR spin on things too. The likes
of Glassdoor, Indeed and Google Reviews will have more eyeballs on
them than ever as people seek to gain the inside scoop on what’s really
going on inside businesses right now. In other words, poor or unfair
treatment can’t be brushed under the carpet and, for some, will stay
around for many years to come.
While securing a good salary will always be paramount for candidates,
it will be equally important that they work for an employer that’s
demonstrated compassion, been transparent in their communications
and, crucially, treated its people well throughout this challenging time.
Which businesses will be successful in attracting
and retaining staff when doors re-open?
It’s difficult for any business to set a clear vision for the future right
now, but knowing the direction you want to head in and putting a plan
in place for your new normal is crucial to gain employee buy-in.
Those being transparent and delivering regular communications
will more likely retain their best people. Even if you’ve made tough
decisions where employees have had to take salary reductions, be
furloughed or made redundant, you can still emerge positively on the
other side as long as you’ve communicated with care and clarity.
From a practical perspective, employers must ensure they implement
the right technology and selection processes to handle the predicted
increase in applications when the lockdown lifts. Remember, having
more candidates to choose from isn’t always easier than none at
all, as there’s a greater chance of the best talent falling through the
cracks. That’s why it’s essential that proper screening and selection
processes, coupled with a robust infrastructure, are in place to
support all future hiring.
The current situation has highlighted weaknesses in traditional
recruitment methods. Going forward, it’s critical that businesses
can scale up or down based on demand and be in a position to
continue operating if a number of key workers are out of the office.
As a result, we’ll see a rise in outsourced and hybrid recruitment
solutions that enable businesses to remain agile and flexible in
any circumstance.
One major thing we can take from this is that ‘business as usual’ no
longer applies. This is just the start of our journey to a new world of
work. We previously had a choice whether we embraced technology
or decided whether employees could be trusted to work from home.
That choice has been taken away, which we should try to embrace
as a potentially exciting new era for everyone. n
We’ve seen the COVID-19 pandemic quickly change how
organisations attract, recruit and retain their employees, with virtual
events, fully-remote recruiting and digital collaboration tools rapidly
becoming the ‘new normal’. However, what’s been the effect on
human behaviour and attitude towards work?
We keep hearing that it’s ‘business as usual’ from organisations, but is
this the case when it comes to recruitment?
While recruitment has continued throughout the nationwide lockdown,
it’s been sector or skills specific. The NHS and care sector, along with
food retail and the grocery supply chain, has seen unprecedented
demand for permanent and contingent labour. Additionally,
forward-thinking businesses with greater financial resilience are
using this time as an opportunity to onboard the best talent.
Those public and private sector organisations still hiring have had to
adopt a new mindset and transform existing processes. Just a month
ago, the prospect of remote interviewing and onboarding would have
been a topic for debate, whereas now it’s the only option. Such a shift
has required faster decision-making from leadership teams to ensure
they don’t miss out on talent and, crucially, still deliver an excellent
candidate experience.
What’s been the biggest challenge employers have
had to face?
Of course, those businesses that were not previously technology-enabled
have encountered the significant obstacle of mobilising their teams and
enabling secure cloud platforms that allow for remote working.
Another massive challenge for organisations has been building a culture
of trust. More than just trusting that employees remain productive and
keep delivering results while working remotely, this extends to placing
trust in suppliers to continue putting forward quality candidates.
Additionally, workplace culture has suddenly come under the
spotlight. After all, how can a candidate’s cultural fit be assessed
remotely? Video conferencing and collaboration tools mean
employers can ‘e-meet’ candidates, but those who previously
relied on an office tour and an intro to colleagues as a means of
communicating culture find themselves reassessing the nature of
what workplace culture really means.
With the workforces operating remotely, is culture
important right now?
It’s vital. A robust culture is imperative for ensuring the team is working
towards a common goal. For a long time, there’s been confusion around
the meaning of culture, with too much emphasis placed on the working
environment. Author and business coach Tony Robbins sums it up
best: “Organisational culture is the core belief system of a business and
its employees, covering how they interact with each other, with their
product and with the clientele. It ties into a company’s values and is the
basis of their brand.”
Indeed, culture is directly linked to a company’s values and, now more
than ever, it’s up to organisations to bring these values to life. The
COVID-19 pandemic means people are thinking differently and gaining
a renewed perspective on what truly matters in life. So, for business
values to resonate, they need to be personal, not corporate.
At Omni, we live by our values which were created by the team and
are continually assessed to ensure they still apply to the modern world.
These values have been crucial in navigating our business through
the current situation, more so than we could have predicted. Staying
agile, collaborating and always taking responsibility are just some of the
messages we live by and, in turn, are the direct result of a culture that
encourages us to pull together, no matter what life throws at us.
Darren Hockley, MD at DeltaNet International on looking after your
mental health whilst recruiting remotely.
SUPPORT SIDE 31
www.theglobalrecruiter.com
REMOTE
MENTAL HEALTH
Separated from their usually
vibrant teams, many recruitment
consultants are reporting feelings
of loneliness and isolation
Recruitment is a business rooted in human interaction. Anyone
that’s ever worked in, or even visited, a recruitment office will know
this. Workspaces are usually filled with the noise of phone calls and
candidate interviews, and recruiters themselves are often in and
out of the office getting to know new clients and getting a feel for
their workforce.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, it seemed unlikely that the recruitment
industry would ever catch up with other sectors in normalising
remote working practices. Indeed, many recruitment leaders felt that
consultants benefited from the office buzz and atmosphere of healthy
competition. Others believed the job simply required a hands-on
approach, with consultants conducting face-to-face interviews, coffee
meetings, office viewings, and so on.
Fast forward to today and this has all changed.
Government-issued instructions to work from home in order to contain
the spread of coronavirus and help hospitals cope mean that recruiters
need to adapt quickly.
Like many businesses in March 2020, the recruitment industry has
undergone a swift switch to online communications. Using comms
tools such as Skype, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, or task management
software like Asana, Trello, and Hubstaff, the industry has risen to the
challenge, allowing many firms to continue to recruit new talent.
The challenge of mental health
Still, separated from their usually vibrant teams, many recruitment
consultants are reporting feelings of loneliness and isolation.
As well as being bad news for the mental wellbeing of staff, over
time, isolation can cause employees to feel disconnected from the
company and its larger goals.
Below are some easily actionable tips to aid boosting morale and
productivity for recruiters during this time:
Stay focused
Rightly or wrongly, many business leaders are concerned about
productivity whenever staff work from home. This is particularly true for
recruitment firms where it’s not the norm. However, the good news is,
you can prove the stereotype wrong!
Ultimately, your monthly sales figures and billing will speak for itself, so
staying focused is key as staff continue to self-isolate.
At the moment, one of the biggest distractions you’ll face is the news.
Checking for COVID-19 updates, or clicking on alerts as and when they
pop up, is going to be hard to resist.
Recruiters should be wary of scrolling themselves into despair,
however. Relying on unreputable sources for news about the outbreak
can fuel anxiety, making it difficult to concentrate and putting your
mental health at risk.
Remember, many news sources rely on click-bait and scaremongering
for views, so schedule “news breaks” – maybe 1 or 2 a day – and
stick to them. Turn off news alerts and choose your outlets carefully,
ensuring they are quality sources (try the World Health Organisation).
Inspire your candidates
During times of global business disruption, it can be easy to feel
concerned and uncertain about the future. Your candidates may
feel now’s not the time to be job-hunting or that there’s no point in
even trying.
This is where recruiters can help! Communicating frequently with
candidates and offering positive feedback is one of the best ways to
inspire and motivate them to stay on track (and it will help you to keep
positive and forward-thinking too).
Keeping your contacts informed about the work you’re doing on their
behalf and the progress you’re making is a surefire way to keep the
future looking bright. Keeping clients and candidates ‘in the loop’
of recruitment means they’re far more likely to work with you as
you implement alternative recruitment measures, video-interviewing
for example.
Communicate effectively
… On that note, communicating effectively whilst away from the office
is suddenly very important for businesses – possibly even more so for
a humancentric occupation like recruitment.
Remember, video calls are far more effective than email and even
phone calls when it comes to avoiding miscommunication. Video chat
is a way to humanise virtual communication.
Seeing your clients and candidates face-to-face in this way is
important, as it allows you to pick up non-verbal communications and
character cues from your interviewee, e.g. their environment, facial
movements, and clothes.
These aren’t things anyone would think to email you about, but they
allow you to get to know people better, in an intuitive way, and make
judgement calls.
Maintain a work/life balance
For recruiters used to going into the office, blurring the lines between
work and home can feel stressful.
There’s suddenly no need to dress smartly or stick to a routine, and
even the lack of commute (a time we use to enter into one mindset or
another) can mean it’s hard to switch off at the end of the day. Sadly,
this can mean bad things for mental health.
Since recruitment is so reliant upon constant communication, it’s
going to be very important to ‘go off grid’ after your workday is
complete. Try to stay offline and relax in other ways, e.g. cooking,
watching a movie, or reading a book.
Another tip is to integrate a ‘transition’ period between work and
leisure time – a sort of symbolic commute, if you will.
Perhaps you will walk the dog every day at 5pm, search the internet
for a new recipe to try, or go upstairs and change into leisurewear.
Whatever it is, developing this habit over time will signal the end of
the working day for you, helping to begin your evening wind-down and
maintain your wellbeing. n
As the coronavirus crisis continues with huge repercussions across
the recruitment market and in terms of how recruitment businesses
operate, the issue of communications – cross company and along
supply chains – is undoubtedly a crucial one. At The Global Recruiter’s
UK summit, held before the outbreak delivered such a severe impact on
the country, a number of recruitment business leaders came together to
discuss communications within their companies. Held in association with
CloudCall, this was an opportunity for recruitment leaders to reflect on their
current practice, how they had ended up using the channels they did, and
what they might do in the future. In attendance were:
Anthony Goodwin, Chairman, Antal
Yvette Cleland, CEO, Clinical Professional
Greg Western, Divisional Head, HCL Mental Health
Nicola Phillips, Permanent Nursing Team Manager, HCL
Workforce Solutions
Sam Seehra, Client Services Director, Korn Ferry
Mark Mitchell, Non-Executive Director, Meridian Business Support
Holly Addison, Partner, Head of Digital & Communications
Technology, Odgers Berndtson
Ben Batten, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Europe
and Asia, Volt
Jeanette Barrowcliffe, Finance Director, Meridian Business Support
James Wakefield, CEO, Cobalt Recruitment
Christopher Hauge, Enterprise Manager EMEA & APAC, CloudCall
Simon Kent, Editor, The Global Recruiter
There was a general appreciation around the room that the recruitment
industry had evolved its communication practice alongside the changes
and innovations made in the way people communicate in general. Having
moved on significantly from the idea that ‘bring your own device’ into a
recruitment business had the potential to wreck a carefully designed IT
infrastructure it is now more than acceptable for consultants to be using
WhatsApp for communicating with colleagues, candidates and clients – a
channel over which recruitment companies have practically no sight. It was
also noted that while it had been commonplace to tout certain platforms,
job sites and online social/business networks as heralding the end of the
recruitment industry, none had actually done so and indeed some had
even been bought out by recruitment businesses along the way.
WhatsApp and LinkedIn were certainly uppermost in the minds of
these recruitment leaders. WhatsApp seems to be the communication
method of choice among a lot of consultants, but provides recruitment
business directors a corporate governance issue with the challenge of
firstly ensuring the communication carried out through that platform is
appropriate for the business, and secondly the challenge of monitoring and
measuring successful use, given that the solution is encrypted and will not
integrate with anything.
There was a discussion over the links between communications, networks
and a recruitment business’ CRM – and on top of that, the true value
of a recruitment business’ candidate database. In the age of LinkedIn it
was asked whether an in-house database actually was important, given
instances where consultants clearly go straight to LinkedIn to find talent
and to the company’s database at a later point, despite the fact that the
same candidates may exist on both.
The worth of a CRM system was also challenged if it cannot integrate with
all methods of communication being used by a recruitment business. Is it
ever going to be possible to understand how a business works and how
it works most effectively if there are elements and activities which simply
can’t be recorded and so don’t show up?
Waiting for proof
James Wakefield suggested that with all technology and communications
there was always the need to wait before investing to ensure it really was
a solution which had value rather than jump first and regret it later. “All too
often recruiters fall into two categories, those who are keen to embrace
all technology and those who are instinctively resistant to it,” he said. “The
simple reality is there is good and bad tech, the trick is filtering one from
the other and that’s best done by networking with peers and finding out
what works and what doesn’t”.
Ben Batten also gave a revealing example of the need to keep up with new
communication channels. His company in Singapore carried out a leaflet
drop outside a train station to advertise opportunities. Having received
a disappointing response the leaflet were redesigned to include bright
colours, emojis and a WhatsApp contact instead of a landline. A second
drop with this design produced a far higher response rate.
It was interesting to find that even in this international business world
where recruiters and their businesses work across borders there were
examples where a network or platform used in one country did not have
acceptance by the business in another. It was felt that the UK market
is one of the most competitive and forward thinking markets where
technology is required in order to keep in touch with clients and candidates
and to keep ahead of the competition. In less competitive markets this
isn’t so much the case. Therefore the emphasis on technology and
communications is less and the methods used more ‘traditional’.
At the same time, it is clear that voice to voice and face to face contact is
still very much valued by candidates and clients. Greg Western reflected
that while WhatsApp could provide a useful first point of contact, a phone
call was still valued and appreciated by contacts. Meanwhile Yvette
Cleland explained how her company now arranged events and dinners
where leaders from within the life sciences industry they serve could meet
peer-to-peer to discuss leading industry issues or innovations with blue
sky thinkers and researchers from the industry. While these discussions
are not a direct sell of their recruitment services they can give exposure
of the company to more than a dozen leaders within the sector where the
business works, a task which if it were left to booking separate meetings
would take a considerably longer time.
Interestingly both Jeanette and James told of recent experiences of
letter writing – Jeanette receiving letters from candidates and James
sending letters out to potential contacts. In both cases this seemingly
‘old school’ approach gained impressive traction. It’s a very personal touch,
demonstrating care and intention and therefore much more likely to get a
response from the receiver.
Across every platform and network however it was clear that the skills of
a recruiter are still highly important. Empathy was highly prized among
consultants by these recruitment leaders and there was a debate over
whether this facet could be demonstrated through each communication
method. Can an email or message actually hit the right note – the same
note as an in person or phone conversation? It was also felt that the good,
empathetic recruiter is able to do this, deciding which communication
method is the most suitable for the person and circumstances in question.
Around the table there were many examples of when the correct
communication method had been selected for the right scenario and
achieved positive outcomes. Sometimes a channel such as WhatsApp
is the only convenient way for someone to be contacted – due to current
work or personal circumstances. Sensitivity around the method of delivery
as well as the message itself will always deliver gains for recruiters, but it
is clear that whatever means are used recruitment companies must never
lose sight of delivering the personal touch.
“The biggest take away from the discussion perhaps unsurprisingly
was the increasing use of social, particularly WhatsApp and LinkedIn
for connecting with candidates, but there were universal concerns
over control, reporting and ownership of that relationship,” commented
CloudCall’s Christopher Hague. “It was unanimously agreed that although
traditional communication methods are in slow decline they cannot
be discounted. The ability to build relationships is paramount to any
successful relationship and there were legitimate concerns that
the younger generation may lack the personal soft skills to
communicate – both in writing and verbally – effectively. Recruitment
training needs to be developed to include personal communication skills.
Hague concluded: “The key point is that there is no one size fits all and a
combination communications strategy is vital to ensure all channels are
utilised to their fullest and controlled to enable effective activity intelligence.”
From the perspective of a few weeks after the event, and with the impact
of COVID-19 permeating business, ‘virtual connections’ are now becoming
the new normal. Businesses are therefore relying heavily on technology to
facilitate communications, both internally and externally, and are embracing
new platforms.
Holly Addison notes that in a recent online forum her company hosted for
business leaders to share thoughts on communicating effectively through
this difficult time, people and wellbeing were top of the agenda.
“There is a danger that people are ‘always on’ when working from home
and that can be stressful – particularly when juggling home schooling and
other family commitments – we need to be mindful of that,” she said.
“Leaders also need softer skills now to keep people engaged and
motivated,” she continued. “There is an opportunity to keep people
connected when they need it most. Try to keep doing things you’d usually
do in the office – call someone when you make a cup of coffee or have a
zoom call with a colleague over lunch.
“In the current climate, maintaining the human connection is vital and when
all this is over, that’s what people will remember.” n
RECRUITMENT LIVE 33
OPEN
COMMUNICATIONS
Simon Kent reports from an industry discussion in association with
CloudCall on the subject of recruitment business communications.
In association with
www.theglobalrecruiter.com
THE PROMISE
BEFORE THE
SHUTDOWN
ANALYSIS 35
www.theglobalrecruiter.com
The Simplicity Margin Index: Q4 2019 Vs Q1 2020.
To say that the last quarter has been a turbulent time for recruiters
would be something of an understatement. With a firm mandate
for the Conservative Government delivered at the end of last year,
Brexit was finally given the go ahead by Parliament in January
2020, and followed by the promise that negotiations would
not go beyond this year. With that, certainty seemed to enter
many sectors.
Alongside this, however, other employment related legislation
promised disruption. A points-based immigration policy with limited
room for overseas casual workers and the introduction of IR35
legislation to private sector firms both brought new challenges.
However, these issues were swept away by the impact of the
emerging COVID-19 pandemic. As businesses shut down almost
90 per cent of recruitment firms reported to an APSCo study
that up to 50 per cent of their contractors had been terminated.
Hiring was described as ‘falling off a cliff’. The REC’s concurrent
JobsOutlook report found employer confidence in the UK economy
had dropped by 22 percentage points with confidence in hiring and
investment decisions falling 21 percentage points.
The figures from this quarter’s Simplicity Margin Index therefore
reflect the beginning of the end of what was a promising time. The
early confidence that comes with a (traditionally ‘pro-business’)
Conservative Government can clearly be seen in the upswing in
the Commercial sector – rising by 3.86 per cent – and to a lesser
extent engineering at 2.01 per cent as decisions pending Brexit
were made, encouraging investment and headcount. It is likely
that the Construction sector experienced the same trend prior to
lockdown, with a slight rise of 0.42 per cent over the quarter.
Equally unsurprising given the time of year and growing
compliance concerns, the Accountancy sector built on its growth
in the last quarter, to deliver a margin growth of 5.54 per cent. This
sector is likely to continue positively with more demands being
made of the function through the management of Government
COVID-19 related support, not to mention negotiations with
financial backers in order to keep businesses afloat.
The downturn experienced in the Hospitality market would not have
been helped by the end of the festive period, an active time for the
sector. However, the decrease of 0.31 per cent is just the tip of the
iceberg in terms of the impact the lockdown will have on the sector.
Meanwhile the uptick in both the Driving sector and Healthcare –
1.16 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively – may herald a positive
time for both. The clampdown on ‘unskilled’ migrant workers is an
issue for both these sectors where potential overseas candidates
are now unlikely to meet the Government’s criteria – drivers and
nurses not meeting the required salary threshold. However, as
both sectors are active at the frontline of managing the impact
of the current pandemic it is likely that these sectors will see
continued strong demand over the next weeks and months. n