Job Opportunities Post Covid 19

There is a widespread discussion currently about the future of work and employment following the Covid-19 pandemic with a prediction of a global recession and a period of economic turmoil. With remote working, the digital economy, gig worker’s rights and virtual offices inevitably becoming a feature in everyone’s life, A question to be answered is which sectors will want to seek investment in human capital this year, next year and beyond? Where will the opportunities come from? What skillset will be required? And how will you be able to prepare for the new areas of demand?

For all of us it has been very painful watching the travel, retail, tourism and hospitality sectors collapse during the first few weeks of the pandemic, however becoming first casualties might allow these sectors to be first to recover in a post-pandemic world, a world where people are desperate to return to a normal like as soon as possible, however we must all adopt a more cautious and conservative approach towards our travel and entertainment plans under confidence and our bank balances recover, this could possibly take some time.

Lets now take a look at some of the sectors who will come out winners post Covid-19

The Health Sector

During this Covid-19 pandemic never have we had to rely on and be thankful to the doctors, nurses and medical staff working on the frontline during this pandemic battle, and if a lesson is to be learnt it is that we can expect reasonable investment and focus to be on jobs within this sector for the foreseeable future.

·        Public sector roles, not just those roles of nurses and clinicians but the likes of pharmacists, carers, health trust managers and roles in professional services including procurement, finance, demand management and recruitment and training from the NHS.

·        Roles in health policy, research and management within government at regional, national and international levels.

·        Digital health analysts which include data scientists and infection tracing specialists.

·        Roles in the emergency services such as police and line paramedics requiring leaders, strategists, crisis managers and planners to ensure these services respond in any situation.

·        Scientists and researchers these include microbiologists and virologists being deployed in research and academic institutions, laboratories and pharmaceutical companies.

The Supply and Demand Sector

We have come to realise the importance of the speed; effectiveness and the supply of goods and materials are. Supply chains are often long and complex, with their being many critical hubs and potential choke points, being made even more difficult through cross border regulatory red tape and further restrictions, therefore we need some bright minds to simplify and organise better the supply of essential products ranging from food to medical equipment.

·        Supply chain roles include planners, analysts, and technological experts who are able to connect unconnected parts of a supply chain in order to provide a slick and responsive operation which can be dialled up or down depending on demand.

·        Roles in logistics cover the likes of fulfilment, warehousing and transport and delivery management. With a reliability towards organisations being able to transport goods from its source to the customer requires the very best of distribution, productivity alongside data managers and analysts being successful.

The Manufacturing Sector

In order to create a national resilience, there may well be a renewed focus towards the capability of local production for everything viewed as being essential, this ranges from food and drink to pharmaceutical products. There is no questions that FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) companies will no doubt be keen to secure new talent in order to support their production capability, their sales and marketing promotions as well as their back office functions in areas such as HR, Finance and procurement.

The Education Sector

With a rapid transformation in the way in which learning and development is taking place with a vast majority of schools, universities and educational establishments responding to the break neck speed towards the demand for remote learning, for collective educational tools and for confirmation of qualifications following either months or years of study. This approach appears to be working well and may provide a leeway towards a different approach towards education, which in turn will provide a new set of skills to teachers and new roles for those providing the learning structure.

The Financial Services Sector

There will be a greater demand for Economists in order to provide direction to the governments, banks, to research institution’s as well as businesses. However, something to take into consideration is will organisations be able to afford the think tank or the consultancy fees which have characterised the pre-pandemic economy? In the banking and finance sector however, there will be many more problems to solve therefore a more conservative approach will be adopted towards large graduate intake programmes.

The Technology Sector

Without the use of technology organization's and individuals would have struggled to survive the social separation which Covid-19 brings. In the near future the tools for collaboration, communication, entertainment, information, data and a whole multitude of other services delivered by technology are going to be even more important towards societal and economical development. No question that careers in technology will see a significant rise.

So which skills will be in demand the most for these roles?

1)     Project and Programme Management- The ability to achieve results and make things happen

2)     Strategic Leadership - The ability to understand the bigger picture, make connections understand complications and be able to make brave decisions.

3)     Innovative and Entrepreneurial Mindset – To deliver solutions which are needed in order to solve some of the worlds most complex problems.

4)     Communication – Finding the ability to find the right balance between providing information which is accurate and relevant.

5)     Languages – The ability to connect and collaborate on the world stage.

It will be a world like never before once Covid-19 ends. But I strongly believe that once the economy opens up these sectors will provide job opportunities enabling graduate to further their career goals and ambitions.