We have seen firms utilise the furlough scheme where needed, reduce hours, and offer sabbaticals – their decisions were wise and this has reduced the need to make redundancies, therefore retaining their best talent.

Businesses have put a hold on most of their recruitment needs however any business-critical roles have still gone ahead. Firms that have in-house recruitment teams have utilised this expertise where possible, whilst still maintaining a partnership with the agencies that they have a close working relationship with.

Many of our clients are successfully working from home and offering agile working options to support parents with children at home and anyone else with specific needs. Many firms are encouraging their staff back into the office where possible but only if they feel comfortable and able to do so.  As the weeks go by, we will see more and more employees returning to the office.

HR teams are successfully using technology to continue face to face communication, onboard new starters and provide well needed training to their staff and clients.

Talent pools have changed significantly, and people are more cautious to move job. On the bright side many candidates are finishing contracts or looking to return to work from maternity leave so there is a steady flow of experienced candidates available in the job market.

We have seen the highest demand within the areas of Risk & Compliance, Finance and IT. This is likely to change in the coming weeks and we expect to see further movement within HR and Marketing.

Through working closely with our clients, we have observed that HR specialists are using this time to focus their attention on various projects, such as Diversity and Inclusion, Equality, and BLM. Raising awareness and gaining knowledge is important to us all.

The slow in recruitment has allowed specialist recruitment agencies, such as ourselves to re-evaluate the market and focus on further educating ourselves in the world of Diversity and Inclusion, thus supporting our clients in our shared goal.

As a topic that has finally come to the forefront of all of our conversations and consciousness', Career Legal and DVF Recruitment will be hosting an online panel discussion on Diversity and Inclusion in the coming weeks.

It’s time to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, so stay tuned and watch this space!