In this blog series, we are going to interview all our Partners and learn how the pandemic is affecting different countries around the globe. 

Simplika | CVO Recruitment are one of the leading HRM service provider in the Baltics, specialized in recruitment and temporary employment services business.

Last week, we had a chance to talk with Akvile Kazliene (General Manager), and we asked her a few questions: 

First of all, how are you? We hope that you and your family have stayed healthy during this pandemic.

Thank you, all is fine at this time of moment. Myself and my family are safe and healthy. 

How’s the Lithuania at the moment or how has it been the last 6 – 7 months? 

Currently, we have more Covid-19 cases per day (~150) than it was before during the first wave in March-May. People are more cautious about where to go, what to do, and with whom to meet in person. The government monitors the situation and releases the recommendations to society and businesses accordingly on a daily basis. Anyhow the important word to mention here would be the parliament election which we are having at the moment. Therefore, more restrictions could be awaited after the election. Yet businesses hope that the government will not close down the business, and there will be possibilities to run the business somehow.  

And what about business and the general atmosphere? How the companies are holding up, have there been a lot of layoffs?  

Many companies are still working remotely, meaning they did not return back to the offices from March. They do forecast to remain in such work mode at least till the beginning of 2021. I guess they will remain working from home at least till Spring. Other companies did return back fully or partly to the offices allowing people to work a few days from home and a few days from the office. So, the general atmosphere is quite positive as things adjusted to the new normal, the economy is thriving as nothing did happen.  

Anyhow, restaurants, bars, hotels, aviation, event organizers did suffer the most. Of course, July, August, and September were a bit of a recovery period for restaurants, bars, and clubs. Anyhow the upcoming wintertime and increasing number of Covid-19 cases do not promise anything positive. 

Currently, we have a 14% unemployment rate, which is really high in comparison to before the Covid-19 period (6,4%). There were companies that went bankrupt, and during summer time, the unemployment rate was 12%.

As this number increases, meaning more people lost their jobs and are unable to find the new one. In addition, we have an increased number of applicants per position and higher competition for a job. Anyhow, most of those applicants can not find the right job as they are from the industries which are not hiring any longer, and they struggle to adjust their skills to the market needs. I guess the upcoming winter season will bring more struggle to businesses, and there will be more layoffs as well. 

How do you see the end of 2020? And what about 2021?

I believe that the unemployment rate will be increasing till the end of 2020 and will remain high at least till Spring. The personnel from the most suffered industries will be looking for a job and trying either to find a short-term job until the next season or will try to reskill and do something else in a safer industry. Parcel delivery companies will have a huge work load again caused by the Christmas season and virus second wave. 

Anyhow, organizations will be willing to recruit personnel who has relevant job experience, which enables them to increase efficiency for short-term high pick period. E-commerce will be the growing industry as well. Thus, I hope businesses will use this upcoming opportunity to transfer physical stores online. 

What do you think about the future? What is going to be the biggest difference in Lithuania if you compare the situation before the pandemic and the possible situation after?

Nobody knows how it is going to be. Therefore, the ability to work fast and be flexible under huge uncertainty will be valuable skills everyone will have to accept as a must-have. Before the pandemic, the market was completely candidate driven, which means that it was a huge challenge to attract and retain talents. Many international organizations have invested in employer branding, implemented many different benefits for employees in order to be seen as attractive and wanted employer in the market. 

Anyhow it did not solve employee’s engagement and loyalty issues. During a pandemic, you could observe the change in the market. Employees avoided the risk of losing a job and were not so eager to grab a chance to make a career change. I believe this situation will not last for long as people are able to adjust to changes wherever it takes.

Therefore, I think that business and employees will adjust to changes. The unemployed will find new jobs, others will probably figure out of their own business, and some unemployed will remain unemployed for a longer time.

Anyhow, post-pandemic will bring new challenges for employers, such as motivating and engaging employees who work remotely. Employees will have the opportunity to have more flexibility to balance between personal and work life. They will be more open to working fixed-term assignments without any obligations. Work will have no boundaries as you will be able to live and work from anywhere in the world.

What kind of roles do you think companies are going to need the most after the pandemic? Do you think there’s some big difference before and after COVID regarding recruitment and headhunting?

As organizations will remain working remotely, employees will get tired. As a result, there will be a natural employee turnover. And at the same time, lack of talents will remain as all business moves towards technologies.

Recruitment and headhunting will remain in demand, and the challenges will be similar. Just the environment will change. You will be headhunting employees to work a job despite the city or even country. That means I will be looking for a specialist not only within Lithuanian borders, yet more worldwide. I guess many agencies will do the same, which means bigger competition for us in the future. 

Regarding the roles, IT-related roles will remain the most wanted ones. Others, like e-commerce specialists, analytical and solution-based roles, business development experts, export specialists, finance guru, will continue to be on the demand curve. 

InHunt World is a Global Headhunting Network that connects the best local headhunting companies around the world. Our Partners are always carefully selected and tested before joining InHunt World so that our Customers can trust that they will receive the best headhunting service every single time, no matter where in the world the need is located.

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