Several changes are underway in the labour market. I do not only mean that many people have been made redundant; however, that is an important element of the whole process’s fundamental dynamism. Completely changed ways of thinking, drastically transforming expectations from the employer side, and employees thinking in different dimensions. That is how we could summarise what we see day by day.
Something came to an end
Optimists say that when one door closes, another opens. I would like to indicate that there are no things in life that are clearly negative. We would really like to agree with this sentiment, right? Now that we are so positive, we should do it responsibly and thoughtfully so that we do not only “fog things up” in the short run, but we can move forward in the long term as well. So, the fact that everything is changing around us – and that we see that there will be processes that will simply end and disappear from our lives, and that there will be processes that are about to start – does not indicate that there will be clearly positive or negative consequences. What do we get out of this personally? That is another question. Do not misunderstand me. I do not want to overemphasise the “take control, and everything will immediately be fine” slogan. It would be too trivial for me. However, it is sure that the time has come for us to sit down and take account of our lives amidst the rush and survival. We should assess the criticism we received in the past and the positive and negative events affecting us. The most important thing is that we should try to define our own value. To this, unfortunately, we have to circumvent the many vapid expressions articulated these days as well. We should check how much we are worth to ourselves, our families, and our employers. After that, we should compare it to how much we get now. Nevertheless, we need to focus on the complete spectrum: what we get from ourselves, our families, and our workplaces. We can be sure that when the fog dissipates, we will see clearly, and others will see us clearly, too. For some, it will have positive effects; for some, it will not change a thing compared to the current situation; others will be negatively affected.
Employee complaints
In the past year, since the virus has played a central role in our lives, we have seen and heard a lot of news, comments, and posts regarding the events happening on the employees’ side. As a recruitment expert, I often asked myself the question, “Is this for real?” Do we really have to share it with the world via Facebook or LinkedIn that we are incapable of? It was clear that the employee in question had no idea what they were doing. That’s not to mention their value. What do I mean, exactly? “I have been working as a sales director for three years, and because of the virus, the centre decided to dismantle the organisation. Of course, out of the three directorates, mine fell victim to this process. I am really sorry because it was really good to work with this team of 20 members. We became a real team and had a great time together.” Do we really have to announce that after three years, we could not convince the centre that we are adequate in a field where numbers speak for themselves? Was the team atmosphere good? That is fine, but what were the results like? Isn’t it clear that this attitude led to their dismissal? The market was full of similar statements. These statements were included in CVs, in which candidates highlighted that “they decided to make me redundant because of the crisis”. It is time to wake up, ladies and gentlemen. Of course, there are economic sectors where even the best professionals had to be given the axe. This is an objective fact. However, only about 5% of the economic sectors had no way out for companies large or small. In most fields, companies kept their best employees. If somebody was not kept, they should not try to come up with a general excuse and share it with the labour market if they want to find another job.
Many things are changing in the labour market. However, one thing does not: precious employees will be kept and paid. What is more, their value will increase, as this is the natural consequence of every crisis.