Workers urged to maintain “pandemic spirit” to fill skills gap

More than a third of workers switched industries as a result of Covid, a new poll from recruitment company Pertemps has revealed.

But some workers still value job stability, with 38 per cent saying they are still with the same company.

Of those who stayed in the same sector, only 16 per cent of respondents said they had changed positions in the past three years, reflecting that career movements within a business had been slow as a result of the pandemic.

Cat Brown, Director at Warwickshirebased Pertemps, said: “The results raise some interesting questions about how the pandemic has a ected people’s mentalities and attitudes towards their careers. Did it prompt a third of people to try something new, or were they forced to reinvent themselves due to circumstances beyond their control?

“We know the pandemic impacted people’s careers and lives di erently, with some discovering new passions and interests during the lockdown.

“In contrast, others were forced to change careers due to companies reducing headcount or making other changes.

“The results also raise questions about the future of the job market.

“With ongoing skills shortages, will we continue to see people using transferrable skills to switch careers or upskilling to plug skills gaps? Or will people sit where they are and wait for things to stabilise as the world returns to a new normal?

“What we saw was people suddenly learning new skills – reinventing themselves and adapting to the situation and what was needed.

It was like a collective ‘Pandemic spirit’ of ‘can do’.

“We are now facing a world where we need that same attitude and approach to continue because we have significant skills gaps across all sectors.

“We need people to be willing to look at work in new ways in order to keep pace with the current jobs market.

“It is not about starting from scratch for people necessarily, but about transferable skills and upskilling. Only by doing this will we have a skilled workforce for the next generation of jobs.”

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