Let’s get back to work

There’s no doubting that the UK, and Europe, feel like very different places this week. Though nobody can really be sure of the long-term implications of the referendum result, a few things seem fairly obvious. One is the likely reduction in Europeans coming to the UK to work. Last year over a quarter of a million people from the EU relocated to Britain, providing sectors such as retail and hospitality with many of their employees. In the UK, non-nationals now make up nearly a third of the hospitality workforce, and much more in London.

A UK out of the EU will leave restaurants, pubs, shops, hotels and many other businesses that rely on foreign job seekers worried about their ability to recruit. These are not the big multi-national corporations that have the deep pockets to ride out the uncertainty. They are the smaller businesses that run on tighter margins, for whom recruitment needs to be quick and easy. A future UK that welcomes less migrants to its shores will inevitably make recruitment harder and slower.

There will also be a cautiousness in creating new jobs. The immediate fall in the value of the pound on Friday demonstrated the volatile economic environment we now find ourselves in. Economists have warned that we now face the prospect of recession, a rise in the cost of lending and a fall in property prices. The retail and hospitality sectors thrive on confidence and become more wary when the mood turns pessimistic. Businesses may decide to put the brakes on any expansion they had planned for as part of the EU, as they take time to reassess what life outside might look like.

But London has always been – and will always be – a city of soaring optimism. Londoners, wherever they may have arrived from, have a legendary spirit of resilience and an ability to adapt. New businesses will still be born, small business will continue to grow, and London’s economy will continue to thrive. And all of that will need a thriving jobs market. Albeit a different looking one.

If the pool of job seekers does become shallower, then businesses will need recruitment to be fast to be effective, making sure they reach the best talent before anyone else. Likewise, if job seekers are going up against each other for fewer jobs, then they’ll want to make applying as easy and speedy as possible. The more jobs someone can apply for, the more chance they will have of success.

That’s why the old way of recruitment just won’t work anymore. Gone are the days of designing costly adverts for expensive media, lengthy job applications, and long turnarounds. Speed, or more specifically mobile, is the name of the new game. When you can post a vacancy and minutes later be messaging suitable candidates on your phone, that’s when you’re getting recruitment right. When you can quickly see what jobs are close to you, apply for as many as you like in a few taps of your mobile, and be guaranteed to hear back in 24 hours, that’s when you’re nailing your job search.

This is why we created the Job Today app. To make the jobs market work for the world we’re becoming. A world that moves at breakneck speed. A world where opportunity still blossoms, for those who dare to dream. A world where your tomorrow can be better than your today, if you know where to look for it.

This is the world we are proud to call home. And proud to be playing our small part in helping you to play yours.

So let’s all start looking forward. Let’s all start doing the talking and taking control. Let’s get to work!