Fears and Furlough in 2020

Well…. 6 months after I written my first blog about my first full year in recruitment and what a 6 months it has been.

It has been my first week back from furlough and I thought I would take time to reflect on the first half of the year for me personally and professionally and how I have found the transition going back to work.

January and the year was starting off well, I was really enjoying the HR desk and had started to build the temp side of the dual desk. Temp recruitment was new to me and something I was quite frankly terrified of, cue loads of questions to those around me and to one of the best temp operators I know (Thanks Denise!) I finally managed to get my head around holiday accrual and payroll. My favorite part of the working the temporary side: the relationships you build with your candidates throughout the process and I was really lucky to have some fantastic people on the end of the phone or a friendly message on LinkedIn to discuss how their placement was going!

Awards season was upon us and the excitement for the first Search Summit – I had an absolute ball last year and once again Scotland cleaned up. What a night and day had by everyone – definitely some sore heads on the way home from Manchester along with some cracking stories. Everything seemed so positive at this point. Speaking to clients about growth plans, building the teams in Search and I just remember thinking what a great year this is shaping up to be…..

A world pandemic! Who would have really thought this was going to happen back in 2019!? To be frank I naively thought ‘it won’t affect us’ and how wrong could I have been. As quick as the realization hit, I had the phone call to say I had been furloughed. This was a mixed bag of emotions; fear I wasn’t good enough to be kept on, helpless in creating my own destiny and one emotion that was there throughout furlough – guilt. Guilty some of my colleagues were logging on, dealing with my candidates and clients, whilst I was getting paid to sit in the house. Thanks to those in my team that kept everything ticking over – drinks on me next time we see each other! Guilty that my partner who worked full time throughout as a mechanic was going to work everyday whilst I kept safe in the house. I just felt guilty that I just wasn’t doing enough.

The first few weeks of furlough and lockdown were really tough. I think it was a bit of hysteria on my part, cleaning my hands and the house everyday that my hands hurt, sitting feeling sorry for myself watching the news and boxsets in my PJ’s and really just getting stuck in a rut.

I am unsure when it happened and I know some people feel (there’s that word again) guilty to say this but I began to LOVE furlough. I had a great routine, It helped that Sean was working full time (and out of the house) so we had a just a normal week and still kept the weekend for fun stuff. Not going to say I didn't have a few mid week wines as that would be a downright lie. I feel like I achieved things I wouldn’t normally do. Don’t get too excited I didn’t run marathons, didn’t learn a new skill or take a course but I loved doing DIY projects, if anyone has heard of Frenchic Paint you will understand the compulsion to paint everything, catching up with friends on zoom, reading those books I always wanted too.

I loved just walking to the beat of my own drum and enjoying the gorgeous surroundings nearby to where I live. No worries about wearing make up, tights or about deadlines. The sun helped and I say at age 32 I have got my first ever proper tan in Scotland, maybe my first ever tan at all!

The carefree attitude was great but all good things have to come to an end, news about widespread redundancies, the economy and the sad news that some of my colleagues and those I thought of as friends won’t be working alongside me anymore. I was relieved to get the call to come back from furlough, but anxiety did creep in about what to expect and how the transition would be going back to work. Once again I felt guilty about those who didn’t have the chance to come back.

So it’s my first week in work and my first week working from home. Forgot my logins for about everything (I knew that would happen) but I have been so much more productive and less distracted than I thought I would be. It has been great to catch up with clients and candidates although the landscape is so different to what I had left back in March. Hearing about widespread redundancies throughout the HR world has been hard to hear and speaking with candidates who are not only doing the redundancy consultations but knowing that it will their turn next. It is a tough job for anyone and I solute the dedication they have to their employees throughout this. There are just some fantastic HR professionals out there who are on the market through no fault of their own and I know this will be one of the toughest years in recruitment both professionally and personally that I will ever encounter. I just aim to do my best for my candidates and clients throughout this turbulent time and come out the other end smiling.

Hopefully we will see an upturn in the latter part of 2020 and I am going to keep this positive mindset throughout – to those returning to work over the next few weeks it may seem a bit daunting but it is amazing how quick the work head comes back into play and it literally feels like you haven’t been away. To all those who have been working throughout I just also want to say a massive thanks for keeping the wheels turning. This has been a tough year for everyone and I hope that everyone keeps safe and keeps happy throughout the next 6 months of 2020.

Thank you for reading :)

Jen x