It will be a bumpy ride back to ‘normal’

Well, a few weeks into 2021, it still feels good to say that 2020 is behind us! The past year offered multiple challenges – not the least of which was the COVID pandemic. Let’s review.

A year ago, most of the job board and recruitment marketing businesses were looking forward to a pretty good year. There was high demand for candidates, steady growth in many sectors, and a sizeable inflow of funding for both new and established sites. Then news emerged of a new coronavirus – one that seemed highly contagious and lethal. What was first a health crisis quickly became a political crisis, and as different nations tackled the challenge in different ways, many parts of the economy simply shut down.

That meant millions of job postings on thousands of job boards went into hibernation as spooked employers held off on hiring decisions – including spending. Guess what? Lots of job posting and sourcing revenue disappeared – and the crunch was on in our industry. Throughout the spring and into the summer, demand went up and down as different sectors of the economy opened up – and closed again. It honestly felt like an employment ‘Whack a Mole‘ game.

Fast forward to now. We have not one, but multiple effective vaccines. We’ve seen some nations such as New Zealand open up their economies. The vaccines – apart from their power to protect human lives – have the power to profoundly change the labor market by allowing businesses to open up permanently. The promulgation of vaccines into our various economies will restore the labor market – and restore our industry’s health.

But – and I say this with complete confidence, unfortunately – it will be a bumpy ride. The recovery will be unevenly distributed. There will be steps forward – and back. The way back to health faces many challenges: lack of steady and predictable vaccine supplies; anti-VAXers; breakdowns in logistics; and yes, lack of people to actually distribute and conduct the vaccinations.

That’s where our industry comes in. Does your job board or recruitment marketing service target health care? Logistics? Manufacturing? Pharma? Marketing? Sales? The vaccination effort needs your candidates! This is one of those pleasant moments when your business can be both patriotic and lucrative! The pandemic is a global challenge – so job boards everywhere can make a difference. It may sound hokey, but by connecting these candidates with the right employers, you will be contributing to the rebuilding of the labor market.

And you know what? That’s a big deal!

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