As we kick off a new month, I can’t help but look back on what has been one of the strangest and most challenging months of my career. As a recruiter and business owner, I spend most of my time talking to people, and there have been times when I’ve been so shocked about the impact COVID-19 is having on people and businesses that even I have been lost for words!
While it’s great to see how many of our clients have flourished and pulled out all the stops to keep our nation fed, it’s equally heart-breaking to talk to others who are struggling, to hear stories of plants and flowers having to be destroyed and read estimates of the numbers of growers and food-service operators who could go out of business due to a lack of financial support.
You may have seen my recent LinkedIn anniversary notification, which marked 20 years of MorePeople on 5th April. I’m extremely proud of reaching this milestone but, for obvious reasons, we’ve put on hold our plans for any sort of celebrations to mark the occasion.
As a Peterborough United season ticket holder, you’d think I’d be used to ups and downs in life, but I can honestly say that this has been one of the hardest situations I’ve ever faced. For anyone who has ever had the pleasure of working with me, you’ll know that I thrive on being around people and absolutely hate the idea of having to work from home. Six weeks in and that hasn’t changed!
I keep reminding myself of our last big challenge, the recession of 2008, and how well we managed to bounce back after that. We all expect life will look very different post-COVID, but I’m confident we’ll continue to find ways to innovate and be ready to meet the needs of clients and candidates as we all adapt to life operating in the ‘new normal’ – whatever that might be.
And once we get there, we’ll celebrate our 20th Birthday in style!............And just to make people chuckle, I thought I would include a picture of Peter and myself at the official launch party of MorePeople....which was only attended by Peter and myself!!!
