2021 has been another extraordinary year. The pandemic has thrown up yet another unexpected and unprecedented development. With many employees having spent time out of work for the best part of 2020, they have used the time to re-evaluate their lives and reassess how their work fits in with their family and personal time. \u00a0Many have not returned to work, choosing to spend time with their families, and others have chosen a complete career change or further education. Staff have moved to different sectors that may provide better long-term job security. People went back to their home countries and maybe won’t return to Ireland. People have moved to more rural areas. Some have had job offers to work for organisations that offer remote working.<\/p>\n
These changes have had a serious impact on businesses with almost every industry finding it hard to retain and recruit<\/a> staff. The restaurant sector alone has had 70,000 people leave since the pandemic hit, according to the Restaurant Association of Ireland. Employers are receiving fewer applicants and they are finding that it is getting harder to fill roles.<\/p>\n Competition is high, so when considering starting a recruitment campaign it is advisable to review the company benefits package, review the salary that is on offer, is it competitive? Have you benchmarked it with industry standards? Take into account that the minimum wage is increasing to \u20ac10.50 in January 2022. Do you have an Employee Value Proposition (EVP)? What other incentives can your company introduce? Do you have an employee referral scheme?<\/p>\n Whatever your company decides to do, recruiters must adjust to market demands, or they will find it increasingly challenging to hire staff in these changing conditions.<\/p>\n