A tough start to 2021 for Foodservice job seekers but with a positive outlook for the year

So here we are again, 2 weeks into a further lockdown to, amongst others, the hospitality sector……….. and…just to add to the challenges already faced let’s now throw school closures into the mix.

Despite positive news re Brexit and roll out of a vaccine – it’s definitely not the start to 2021 that most employers and candidates in Foodservice were looking for.

But – as always, the demand for hospitality hasn’t disappeared, it’s been put into hibernation – almost everyone is looking forward to that day when they can go to the pub, eat out with their families, pop to the coffee shop for 15 minutes before work, sit in the café at work with colleagues.

I know it’s hard to envisage being back there, but it will happen.

Many clients (particularly Sales and Marketing Managers) exited 2020 with a view to starting to rebuild teams in January – restructuring has left teams "lean" in terms of numbers whilst companies weather the storm, but the view was for 2021 to see the rebuilding of teams and filling gaps in the team with confidence in the sector being up and running for March.

Although the plans still remain and the requirements will still be there when the market re-opens and volume picks up – of course the big difference between where we are now and where we were in December is the new lockdown and company's various levels of confidence in the timescales for Foodservice to be able to “re-open”.

Boris’ comment about timescales being “byDaffodil Season” has probably seen a surge of research into this subject (if you don’t know the answer - it’s February to May so you are still none the wiser to when we can expect to exit lockdown).

So how does this reflect on companies views on team rebuilding and hiring within Foodservice Sales and Marketing?

Having spoken to many employers of Foodservice Sales and Marketing talent already this year there appears to be 4 main thought processes in terms of how Sales and Marketing leaders foresee 2021 trading and the knock on effect on hiring.

The Key 4 camps that Sales Managers appear to find themselves in at the moment

The “lack of confidence in 2021” camp

That 2021 will be challenging this and no hiring will take place.

Fortunately companies I have spoken to in this bracket seem to be very much in the minority and most people have confidence in the sector re-emerging post lockdown at some point in 2021 and this resulting in positive trading conditions.

Very few people are predicting an immediate return to pre-lockdown levels, but at the same time very few are predicting levels which would be a barrier for them to be able to trade successfully.

The “We need to see the volume and revenue pick up first” camp

Companies that are keen regrow and rebuild but will not or cannot consider doing so until they have a few months of trading under our belts, can see what volume/revenue looks like and have the resulting turnover to reinvest in headcount.

These companies are still fairly confident that the market will pick – but want more assured information on what trading will look like before hiring.

A fair amount of companies in this bracket – and understandable given the challenges of 2020 – but with the attached risk of being understaffed when the market reopens.

The “We want to/need to hire talent but want to coincide it with when the market reopens and we are unsure about timescales”

The plan with these companies is to try to coincide recruitment plans with when the majority of the market re-opens.

These companies are aware that current staff numbers will not be able to cope with trading conditions back to “near normal” but are easily able to cope with current demand with existing headcount.

This is by far the largest group of companies currently.

Other added dilemmas such as many staff home working, home schooling and existing members of the Sales and Marketing team on Furlough, means that although the confidence in team building is high, right now is not the most effective or practical time to make an offer or start someone.

This is not as negative as it initially seems as many of these companies are "pipelining" talent in advance - with a view to advancing interview processes to final stages and then

As long as companies are transparent about uncertainty on timescales at the outset then this approach doesn't present a concern to candidates or appear to present a barrier for them to want to be considered.

The “Let’s build now and have talent onboard and up and running in advance of reopenings” camp

Still companies out there who either have business critical gaps in their team or have higher confidence in re-openings March/April.

These companies are keen to press ahead now, and act quickly to capture the best available talent, and are in a position to/are prepared to take the risk of investing now for later in the year.

This is particularly noticeable with National Accounts positions where the roles are addressing more long term commercial negotiations, and also with it being more practical to be be able to undertake these positions during lockdown and remote working than more regional positions where the percentage of customer facing (which can't happen right now) is higher.

Of course, the risk to this approach would be extended lockdowns resulting in carrying additional headcount for longer than would be ideal and the challenges of starting someone now mentioned in the previous category are still very real and need overcoming, but the benefit is that their teams will be robust, on board, making strong headway in advance of the outlets re-opening.

What we can take heart in, is that although there appears to have been some redundancies in January and new "Open to Work" statuses

• ?There have undoubtedly been a volume of candidates announcing commencement of new roles in Foodservice in January
• ?The overall optimism and outlook for the sector is far, far more positive than it was during the first lockdown.
• ?There are far more vacancies within Sales and Marketing within the sector and interview processes commencing (even though timescales for offers and start dates are very fluid) than in 2020.
• ?We are starting to see more candidates who are in stable roles emerge in 2021 open to considering new roles which in turn will create movement within the sector and resulting new vacancies. (Many companies are now at headcount levels when if anyone else leaves it will be essential to replace/recruit).

It is tough out there in Foodservice - especially for Job seekers - and of course it's inevitable that there will be more bumps in the road to overcome - but, even despite current extremely challenging trading conditions, there IS positivity which is starting to be seen in terms of opportunities in the sector.