Thre are so many changes that are taking place concerning the work market around the UK. One of the most significant ones is the move to remote working. Not only does this means people no longer come into the same office and meet in person, but it also means that they coordinate everything over video calls and the phone. Many startups had taken to working remotely well before the pandemic hit, but that was ideal for companies that handled most of their work through the internet. The beginning of the lockdown forced most businesses to adapt and do their best to move their meetings, work, and coordination online. Unfortunately, the largest part of the UK workforce has to work in person since there is a lot more than coordination that they have to work on.
Industries like hospitality, construction, running small businesses like restaurants, cafes and bars cannot be handled over the internet and need to be sorted in person. They didn’t have a choice when it came to remote working and had to work in person. For the most part, this meant waiting for the pandemic to get as far under wraps as possible. Otherwise, they were running in small capacities, making sure they followed all the Government mandates including wearing masks, maintaining distance, smaller numbers in closed spaces, so that they met social distancing norms, regularly sanitising, and stay vigilant.
With changes like these, the number of people working in the UK significantly decreased, but their unemployment rate stayed stable at 3.9% for the last six months. According to official figures, there are almost three million people across the UK who are out of work, seeking and claiming unemployment benefits since the beginning of the pandemic, from the UK Government.
This number keeps increasing with more than half a million people being added to this list every month.
The Office for National Statistics in a statement at the beginning of July said that young people were likely the worst affected by the loss of employment and going to be hit by a loss of hours, after recording a rise in zero-hours contracts to the highest level on record. People aged between 18 to 24 years were among the worst affected by job cuts, along with the older section of the workforce, over the age of 65. These people suffered the worst fall in employment since the pandemic began.
Many employers are making changes to the way that they hire people as well. They have started conducting interviews online, through video and conference calls, allowing them to get an understanding of the candidate, but they do go a step further and handle a DBS check as well.
This check provides them with information about the person, including whether they have a police record and other information that might be relevant to prospective interviewers. If they do not need that level of detail and just a check, they can go through the CRB check, which can be handled by the employer or the employee.
