ARE WE READY FOR THE BOOM POST THE LOCKDOWNS?

AC-BC [AFTER COVID - BEFORE COVID]

Many economic analysts have concluded that the United Kingdom’s economic status may be poised to grow explosively AC (After COVID) in 2021. The US economy is booming now and that is exactly what will happen here in Australia once the lockdowns are lifted. Business leaders should start embracing themselves for this to be coming soon to your states and territories across Australia.

Now is the quiet time, the time to work on your strategies for when your businesses will be so busy that you will barely have time to think. Do you have a plan in place to understand what roles you will be hiring for and where you will be sourcing these super stars from?

The pandemic has re-defined our industry where we have seen a lot of talent drain to other industries. Hospitality stalwarts are well known for their resilience and can easily survive in any industry. Some of these professionals are now reluctant to come back into hospitality as they have had the bitter experience of having their jobs made redundant, working reduced or erratic hours for almost 2 years – most importantly, not being able to sustain a steady income during this period. They also live in the apprehension that the pandemic could return which can again affect the industry and their jobs likewise. The safer bet for them would be not to return to the industry.

This poses an imminent risk of businesses compromising on their recruitment standards just to employ bodies that can do some parts of the job. It will take a couple of seasons for this generation to be providing great service once again.

People will be glad to get out of their boxes and begin work. Customers or guests as we refer to them in hospitality although aware of labour shortages across the industry are seen to be unforgiving when it comes to a situation where they have had to spend money and not get the traditional service that they have been used to BC (Before COVID).?

Current conditions suggest a return to late 2019 levels before the end of 2022 and the situation will only improve further as vaccine rollout continues and lockdown procedures abate. HATT industries (Hospitality, Aviation, Tourism & Travel) have been the brunt bearers of this pandemic as we have seen all other industries still flourish during the pandemic with employees still working from home and seen no reduction in wages. The HATT sectors have been the front runners being vocal to ensure that the majority of population gets vaccinated so that they can get back to their normal lives. #letsgetto80 #givetravelashot #betravelready #gettravelready

To catalyse economic activity AC, Major Banks have also announced it will keep interest rates low to encourage consumer purchasing atleast for another two years. As more families will start spending their savings more, it’s also expected that the resulting high demand and prices will contribute to inflation in the short-term.

Nonetheless, now is the time to begin checking out resumes, interviewing online and being ready for the coming boom. You might reach a stage where you will have to pause the flow of business coming in due to the lack of staff on the ground that would have normally run the show.

As an industry, it is time for us to unite and look at supporting each other in convincing the authorities to relax rules for hospitality workers from other parts of the world like Europe, Asia & Africa. Most ads placed on LinkedIn, Seek or other platforms mostly return resumes that have no cooking clue as to what the job entails or highly experienced individuals that do not have sufficient work rights in the country.

We might want to seriously consider collectively setting up an institution to provide line level to mid management staffing in these industries to alleviate the shortages and ensure that the employment conditions are regulated.