If you have a good idea and the drive to pursue it, might today’s tough times represent the opportunity you’ve been waiting for to strike out for yourself?
Hiring in the time of coronavirus
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced thousands of Australian businesses of all stripes and sizes to stand down or lay off employees. Early figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) suggest 8% fewer Australians reported to work paid hours in early April when shutdown restrictions came into force compared to the month prior.
This drastic decline was mirrored in Seek’s April Employment Report which showed job ads in March 2020 were down 33.9% in a year-on-year comparison. Hard hit sectors included tourism and hospitality, trades and services, and information and communication technology.
While the government has unveiled a road map to reopen the economy in stages, many organisations may take months or even years to return to pre-COVID-19 levels of hiring activity.
A temporary future
In uncertain conditions, businesses are likely to be cautious about taking on permanent employees, according to Jason Roulston, Managing Director of recruitment firm Blackroc. He expects the COVID-19 crisis will trigger a wave of restructures, with many organisations looking to turn one-time permanent roles into temporary gigs.
“In six months’ time, we’ll start to see the effects – short-term arrangements are going to be much more favoured than permanent arrangements, especially in mid-tier companies,” Roulston says. “Contracting is going to be huge – but permanent? I don’t think you’re going to see much of that on the market.”
Stable positions were on the wane even before the coronavirus crisis struck. A 2018 Centre for Future Work report by Jim Stanford and Tanya Carney found less than half of working Australians had permanent full-time jobs with leave entitlements. In recent years, many organisations had shifted to hiring casual and contract workers on a ‘just-in-time’ basis, Dr Stanford noted.
Hard to find roles
Competition for the few full-time roles available is likely to remain intense, according to The Sales Recruiter principal Kara Atkinson. Since early 2020, she’s seen the average number of applications per role jump from around 100 to 400 – and she doesn’t see this changing until well into 2021.
“The need for stability and security will override everything else on the wish list for employees, and companies that offer a full-time role won’t have to offer a whole lot else,” Atkinson says.
Conversely, a difficult job market can provide some enterprising individuals with the impetus they need to strike out for themselves. A lot of businesses popped up through the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008, Atkinson says. She started her own recruitment agency during that time and says others are likely to do similar, as the current downturn plays out.
“It always takes bravery but it happened, and we’ll start to see it happen again,” Atkinson says.
In challenging economic times, permanent jobs can be harder to get and keep. If you’ve been pondering the benefits of running your own show, now may be a good opportunity to give it a go.