COVID-19 & EMPLOYMENT: THE REAL PICTURE ??????

Our world has forever changed, and what has brought it down isn't a super volcano, an off-the-charts earthquake or tsunami, or an alien invasion... but an invisible pathogen that caught humanity off-guard and is just doing what it is made to do: SPREAD.

As a career coach whose expertise lies in helping people with the job search & application process, I have been following this story with my field in mind. A wave that has given rise to face masks and hazmat suits which look right out a movie set. But unlike the movies I watched growing up, where America saves the world from whatever evil forces threaten it, this time, the most powerful nation in the world has mismanaged the crisis, and instead of disappointment, I am filled with empathy for a country that has given me so much (and for all other nations where this virus are wreaked havoc...)

And while I am glad that my motherland, India with the second largest population in the world has done a pretty good job of managing this pandemic, my foremost concern is for the millions of people who are affected by this indiscriminate virus; the aged, the communities in lockdown, and the impacted workforce, and the healthcare workers who are the unsung heroes of this catastrophe... nurses and doctors have turned messiahs taking on the frontlines of this fight, and humanity should be forever grateful for these bravest of souls.

And in following this story I have now seen several news broadcasts and panel discussions on TV conducted by fine moderators and distinguished participants all lending their developed judgments on how the situation might unfold and what we can do to manage it. And discounting the sensational channels and frenzied fear mongering, there is real and deep concern because all theories are just that, theories - no one knows for sure how we should deal with this problem because we haven't walked this road before in a manner in which it is now confronting us.

There is a lot of pressure on businesses at least here in India where Prime Minister Modi has appealed to organizations not to pass the burden on to the common man. That said, it isn't going well. Lay-offs, and chaos are are becoming the order of the day economically and it is making people anxious beyond the disease itself. In a nutshell intelligent panelists on the various channels have presented the following:

There are two categories of people, one - who have jobs, and one, who are looking for jobs. The ones who have jobs have to face the questions of what guarantee is there that they will still have a job by the time “this too shall pass”, and the second question they face is that if they still have a job, what guarantee is there that they will make the same paycheck? The answers so far are discouraging, with statistics showing that personnel cost is 50% or greater of the overall cost pie for an organization. And organizations don’t have endless stamina to sustain its greatest asset: its personnel because what this virus has done is that it has impacted an enterprise’s ability to generate income, while kept the cost meter running on idle (salaries mainly). Now not all industries are affected the same way, but this is a sensible generalized assessment. And work from home may have greater play in the overall answer than we realize.

For the second category of people, the ones who are looking for a job, the markets have gone into panic mode and hiring has all but frozen. The International Labor Organization released its report that this pandemic will impact over 195 million jobs globally taxing unemployment benefit systems across nations, governments and geographies in an unprecedented manner. The impact has already crossed the fallout the world experienced in the 2008 financial collapse of the public markets.

So what can you do? See the most critical thing that I want you to understand and the point I am trying to make in this article is that there maybe a silver lining to this cloud - such episodes while they impact the quantity of demand negatively, they increase the intensity of demand affirmatively. Businesses and employers will look for the best of the best to continue to attain, manage and grow their competitive advantage and that is where the statement “In adversity lies opportunity” comes true...

The intensity of demand for individuals who are proven leaders will be on steroids, and those people will be chased with multiple offers. So the real question becomes, how can you belong to that group of individuals who come out winners from this mess, and are called upon to help us all in this time of crisis?

I will be answering this question in my webinar tonight at 8:00 PM Indian Standard Time and I look forward to seeing you there. Registration links below:

To register click here: https://successgyan.clickfunnels.com/webinar-registration1587013405371

And do join me on social media as we tackle this problem hand-in-hand...

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dreamjobsmastermind/

On LinkedIN: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/sawankapoor/

On You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/swnkpr

May god bless us all and may we prove again that we as a race have the values and the wherewithal to put people before profits ????