Now that Ireland is reaching the end of its second level 5 lockdown, we are all looking optimistically towards December. A month that should offer some relief with an end to the current restrictions.
Since the Covid 19 pandemic brought the country to a relative standstill in March, ASM has been contacted by candidates and clients alike who are worried about the impact on recruitment and hiring.
Our clients all ask the same thing – How can they find good people to hire during a global pandemic? We understand their concerns. In our many years in recruiting for Irish and International companies, we have never seen a market change so rapidly and dramatically as the Irish recruitment market has in 2020.
Where Have All The Candidates Gone?
In March this year, when Irish schools and businesses started to close, the majority of companies across all sectors instinctively paused any and all hiring activity. In turn, this sent potential job candidates into panic mode. EHS, construction and engineering professionals that had been engaged in interview and onboarding processes with potential employers found themselves stuck in limbo as the processes came to an abrupt halt. Not knowing if the process would restart or if the job would cease to exist at all left them with few options to choose from. Those that had been job hunting saw a massive reduction in opportunities being offered by potential employers until the ‘new normal’ was better understood.
With so much uncertainty in the job market, people who were already employed have, for the most part, been hanging on with both hands to their existing roles, referring to stay with what they have rather than risk trying to move jobs at such an unstable time.
The Strength Of Reputation & Networks
What all candidates share in 2020 is an appetite for trust and certainty. That’s where we count ourselves lucky at ASM Group. As a business that has been developing relationships with key clients for almost 20 years, EHS, construction and engineering candidates know that we can be trusted to find great jobs (even in 2020!) and employers know that we can rely on our network to find the right candidate for their difficult to fill positions.
Throughout this year, no matter what level of lockdown the country was in, our team has stayed busy keeping in touch with our clients and helping them with their resourcing needs. We’ve also been hard at work for our extensive network of candidates. From advising about the opportunities that are currently available to helping with CV updates and interview preparation and updating them about the market at large.
By staying in touch with people and staying at the forefront of everything that is happening, we have kept our network of professionals as strong as ever. Knowing that we only work with reputable business organisations, our candidate network has continued to rely on us which means that we have been able to continue finding them great jobs.
Placing Passive Candidates
We often find, when we spot great candidates who we know are would be the perfect fit for one our client, that the candidates haven’t been considering moving roles. In these instances, we work with those candidates to help them understand their value and how making the right move to the right kind of business can transform their careers. It’s important to us at ASM that we help these candidates to optimise their career prospects to their full potential.
It helps that we have real relationships with our clients as this means that we can really help a passive candidate understand the type of employer we are talking to them about. One of the reasons that we build such sustainable relationships is so that we can offer accurate and transparent information to candidates. This level of knowledge is what brings people back to us time and again.
Flexible Placements On The Rise
Thanks to the flexible ways that ASM provides candidates, we have been able to adapt quickly to the changing needs of clients. With a rise in the numbers of employers moving to flexible working arrangements of varying types, we have been able to keep up with the demand to provide candidates for short term placements, contract positions, part-time and permanent solutions – with a strong database of active candidates for just that purpose.
At ASM Group we pride ourselves on the network we have built over the past 20 years, a network exclusive to ASM Group that allows us to offer truly specialist resourcing services – even in a year like 2020! If you have any questions about hiring for EHS, construction or engineering roles, get in touch with us by calling +353(85)2642879 or email rnolan@asmgroup.ie
