FACILITIES MANAGEMENT JOURNAL JOBS
FM CAREERS - RECRUITMENT
STAYING ON-BOARD Coleen Cloherty, MD at Build Recruitment looks at remote on-boarding and why the
Property, Construction and Facilities recruitment sector can help improve people’s job
prospects post-lockdown
The past few weeks have been unprecedented
in terms of upheaval and change to all our
personal and professional lives. Things
almost unimaginable are now considered the
new ‘normal’. Lockdown has been announced
and implemented to mean that only those who
cannot work from home are allowed to attend a
workplace. Town-centres and o ices are deserted
and some industries have come to a complete
standstill.
A virus that seemed so far away at the end of 2019
has a ected us all a gargantuan way. We have found
out who our key workers really are and hopefully
now we all realise people can no longer be referred
to as unskilled or low skilled sta ever again. We
now rely on all our key workers simply to continue
to survive.
At Build Recruitment , we have communicated
to all our clients that we are fully operational and
working remotely. We are fortunate that we are able
to operate in this way and over the past eight weeks
have been using communications technology such
as Starleaf, Zoom, Microso Teams, O ice 365 and
Skype.
Clients are still hiring and some who cannot work
from home are continuing to interview face-to-face
while adhering to social distancing measures in a
safe manner. Those of our clients who are able to
work from home are interviewing and hiring entirely
remotely. For many companies that would not have
considered doing this before – it has now become
a necessity if they wish to add new hires to their
businesses. We expect this trend to continue even
as restrictions to working practices are expected to
ease over the coming months. Working from home
has been tested in a widespread and mainstream
manner, and it can no longer be claimed that
working from home cannot be done en masse.
JOB RETENTION
Many hundreds of thousands of people have
now been furloughed under the government’s
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and are
naturally worried about their future post-June when
the current scheme expires. It isn’t widely known
or understood that furloughed workers can work
in alternative employment during this time but we
recommend they do consult their employers before
doing so. Many of the hundreds of thousands of
additional key workers required for the national
e ort include some of these furloughed employees.
There have sadly been hundreds of thousands
of workers who have been made redundant for
various reasons during this time who look like they
may not be able to return to a similar role in the
near future. Hospitality, catering, construction,
education and manufacturing are some of the worst
hit sectors. While some of our Construction & Social
Housing clients have announced they are reopening
sites/operations in May, only time will tell if this
is possible. Over the last eight weeks companies
have been busy dealing with scaling down their
operations and dealing with the crisis as best as
they can. Some companies have been planning
and preparing for their return. They have been reorganising
their supply chains and making sure they
have su icient supplies, equipment and crucially
PPE, to re-open safely.
At Build recruitment we are monitoring all our
markets closely by observing the jobs registered,
the volumes of CV’s sent to clients and the roles
registered. Some of our FM clients have had to
bolster their support service teams, and in order
to maintain social distancing guidelines this has
added extra cost and complexity to delivering
services. These have to be monitored, reviewed and
reinforced or changed when necessary.
It is important to recognise how FM companies,
along with the Public and Third Sector have in my
view stepped up and been counted by supplying
sta into some of the most dangerous and high-risk
areas where they are needed most. Our NHS teams
have been amazing and continue to defy the odds
to protect us and save lives. This is changing the
perception held by some of the public sector.
FALL IN DEMAND
As a Business Services organisation we follow and
grow as the market grows. We therefore need to
contract when capacity falls within the market. We
have watched demand fall o a cli in some sectors
and fall significantly in almost all areas. However,
some areas of our FM business remain buoyant and
we remain hopeful that demand will return when
things are freed up a little and the NHS can cope
with potential capacity issues.
Some of our clients have told us that certain
competitor recruitment companies have stopped
supplying sta ing services completely, and aren’t
planning on returning until the market demand
returns. These are of course the worst trading
conditions I have seen over the last 20 years in
recruitment, however I do feel this is a little shortsighted.
We have just approved and are making
payments to in-scope furloughed temporary
workers and urge others in the sector to do this.
The decision and ability to do this rests with the
employment agency, and by our doing so, jobs can
be protected and our clients can aim to re-hire these
individuals as soon as they are able.
We also recommend that furloughed employees
and those still working keep in touch with each
other and check in weekly or periodically. Training
and development should not be neglected at this
time and we recommend people update their CVs
and review their own personal development. Here
are Build we are happy to carry out 121 phone or
video call consultations along with providing free
CV advice and guidance.
The sector post Coronavirus will look markedly
di erent than what occurred before. Some sectors
may never recover to what they once were and
many people will retrain into new sectors. The FM,
Property and Construction sector needs many new
recruits and the skills shortages will still exist when
we return to more normal times.
LATEST JOBS ON FMJ
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