“We may not all be in the same boat, but we are all in the same storm.”

As we near the end of this turbulent year, I wanted to reflect on everything that has happened within the economy, the jobs market and our amazing community all over North and East Yorkshire.

For me, 2020 was going to be the best year ever! KD Recruitment was growing, we were taking on more staff and the jobs market was extremely buoyant. The whole of North and East Yorkshire was thriving with so many businesses growing, and there were lots of amazing job opportunities out there for everyone.

As we started the year, I was involved in an amazing event in Scarborough for International Women’s Day at the beginning of March, however, this was the time when everything started to change. The virus had hit our shores and everyone was starting to think about what the impact would be, however, Im sure you will agree that none of us expected it to be this massive pandemic that has taken over the whole world all year.

I remember the week everything changed for us in March, I went out to meet a client in Hull on the Monday and we were joking about not being able to shake hands and sitting across from each other in a large board room. By the time I got back to the office, some of my appointments had already started to cancel. By the Tuesday, everything had been cancelled in all of our diaries. All permanent jobs were placed on hold and we sat there wondering what was happening, just like everyone else.

The first broadcast from Boris Johnson felt like we were all watching the queens speech. The whole country united and all sat at home watching the same thing. Boris told us we could fight this thing together, but lockdown came and the world changed for everyone.

What followed was days of panic for everyone; what would happen to our businesses? our staff? our family and friends? We had no way of controlling the virus and we had to just stay at home. However, Rishi came to the rescue with his announcement of the Job Retention Scheme and the government grants that were available. This was such an important announcement and a lifeline for so many people. Jobs would remain, and businesses could potentially survive this virus.

I have to say that at this stage, I thought that this would only last a few weeks or a couple of months, I had no idea that nine months later we would still be fighting for our businesses, our staff, family and friends.

The lockdowns, the restrictions placed on us and the current tier system are not what any of us wanted, however we have all pulled together to show that we can do this, we are stronger together and as a community, we have faced the most difficult year of our lives and we are still here to tell the story.

The economy crashed at the beginning of the pandemic, but businesses rallied, they looked at ways to diversify and changed the way they do business. Many have gone online and now work in a virtual world, hospitality businesses have moved into takeaways, which I have particularly enjoyed as we have had a number of birthdays and anniversaries to celebrate in lockdown. So to be able to have your favourite afternoon tea delivered with some cocktails so you can still make the days special, has really meant a lot this year.

I spent lockdown investing time and money into the new services that we launched this year. I wanted to make sure that we could support as many of our clients and candidates as possible so we managed to set up a bespoke Outplacement Service along with launching our Temporary Staffing Solutions. I knew that moving forward and out of a recession, it is temporary recruitment that many businesses need to help them grow back better.

I have spoken to so many business owners, directors and HR professionals this year about and on the back of these conversations, we were able to organise some excellent virtual round tables with an array of inspirational guest speakers. We have also spent the last month or so working on our Covid report for the region. Looking at the effect the pandemic has had on our region specifically, and how confident everyone is feeling as we head into 2021.

For me, this year has been a game of two halves. The first half was really tough for everyone, however the second half has been better, and the green shoots of recovery are there. Businesses are recruiting again, there is growth in so many industries from IT to Manufacturing and Engineering and the amount of brand new businesses that have been set up this year is phenomenal. So many courageous people who have found a gap in the market and decided to do it for themselves is so inspirational.

We have all overcome adversity this year and we are still here to tell the tale so lets all remember that we are stronger now that we were before.

Here at KD Recruitment, we are stronger than ever and will be available to support you all in any way we can moving into 2021.

If you would like more information on any of the services we can support you with, click on the links below.

Outplacement Service

Temporary Staffing Solutions

Looking for a job