To say it’s been quite a year is an understatement. Even those who predicted a pandemic, who fervently watched Contagion and the like, probably didn’t think through how we’d not only shelter in place but school, work and entertain ourselves under one roof.
Starting in February and certainly by March, recruiting halted for the most part, companies paused and re-planned. We all wondered how to catch a falling knife. However, by April hiring resumed for many companies and by now, most companies know if they are going to fail, survive or thrive during the recession that the pandemic has brought.
Many companies have thrived and are hiring. When the market is flooded with talent, recruiting can be even more challenging. The Pachera Group was started in the last recession. I recall doing a search for a CTO of a major university. We made the mistake of posting the opening on the job boards. We had over 300 people apply—there were candidates from around the world, a high school student applied, a chef applied. What a mess trying to pour through all these resumes to see if there was one qualified candidate (there was not). Our partner Bill Firing has more to say on how companies are handling the current situation,
here.
Many companies are cutting people some slack, deferring performance reviews at Facebook for example. Some companies are allowing for more time off to tend to family demands. Some gave you cash to upgrade your home into an office.
We’re probably coming to an end on the tolerance for distracted workers if this is the ‘new normal’ and work from home becomes more commonplace. That means getting into space that makes sense for your needs or redoing space so that your kids can distance learn and you and your partner can effectively work together. And it probably means hiring some help if you at all can.
Many companies have failed and there’s likely more layoffs coming as we start to see longer term trending of the travel and entertainment industry, food and beverage, CPG and more. As those companies that took PPP loans approach the end of September, we’ll see if they do a round of layoffs. And by now, those furloughed are figuring out whether they will be called back or not.
If you are in the job market, the bar is higher than ever to really nail every interaction—you only get one chance, there are no ‘do overs’ in recruiting. We’ve written more on that topic,
here.
And for those who are marching along, it may be time to reassess how you are doing and figure out how to continue to accelerate your career and your income, lean more on how to
Manage Your Career in the Covid Era.
We’ll all get through this, it’s a time to figure out how to thrive, how to make things work for your company, your teams and for your own career.
