It’s that time of year when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to Mandy Watson, MD at Ambitions Personnel, a recruitment expert based in the East Midlands.
2021 has been somewhat of a hangover from the events of 2020. 2022 will be slightly different, but we envisage staff and skills shortages will continue as the unpredictability carries on.
The realities of the issues associated with this are yet to be really perceived by the public. As a result of labour shortages, some employers may have to reign in their product range or level of services.
Consumers may well have to accept a more limited array of products to choose from than they are used to and less chance to enjoy perks like same day or next day deliveries. Fulfilment may well be an issue.
Employers will also have to continue to increase offerings, although possibly not salaries as these have already been pushed to the limit of what firms are comfortable and able to pay. This is where working conditions and other benefits become important. Therefore, employer branding is more important than ever and those who are simply returning to a ‘business as usual’ model pre-pandemic might find themselves the ones not able to attract talent.
As a recruitment operator in the East Midlands, we are already seeing businesses who don’t believe the labour market will become favourable again, they are turning to automation as the solution and we could expect to see a gradual reduction in the demand for low-skilled positions in the longer term.
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