The global economy is in considerable turmoil. Uncertainty is now the prevailing condition in the business world, and this will undoubtedly affect recruitment and jobs.
In fact, the downward trend in recruitment (all sectors) is already clearly evident.
Whilst much of the payments sector has characteristics that make it comparatively resilient to this crisis, its professional community – the staff – will clearly feel serious effects in the form of workforce reductions and slowed recruitment processes.
It has been truly heartening, then, to witness already the signs of continued confidence and commitment to maintaining, and even building, talented workforces in this difficult time. Headcount’s consultants are in continuous consultation with employers and have heard positive signs already in the past few days.
Positive potential does exist for the payments sector, with areas like crowdfunding, payment gateways and contactless technologies well placed to sustain or increase business in the coming months. In these areas, demand for skilled talent will remain high.
Employers- many of whom were already taking tentative steps towards embracing remote working - are accelerating work-from-home plans by necessity. In some cases, the conditions we find ourselves in will even open new opportunities for candidates whose location was previously a barrier.
We have, even since the crisis has escalated, taken numerous new briefings from employers hiring staff for positions in tech, marketing, sales and other roles. There is so much that can be done, even in the face of adverse conditions.
The payments sector, we know, has the creativity, skill and determination to find a path through – one that retains as much of its talented workforce as possible and ensures strength for the future.
Of course, for many in the sector, there will absolutely be difficult times ahead. Such an enormous shock to society and the economy will certainly cause job losses, across all sectors. We can only hope that payments employees are protected to the greatest extent possible.
As an agency who truly cares about the prosperity of our industry and its professional community, Headcount are committed to doing all we can to assist those seeking new employment.
We encourage all those seeking new employment to register with us by providing a CV or LinkedIn profile at head-count.com. Whilst we can never promise to find jobs for all those who register with us, we will be advocating strongly for valuable skills to be put to good use wherever possible.
Video interviews are already a widely-used format, and we will be supporting candidates to ensure you are able to represent yourself as well as you would in person. (We are putting together a full guide on this, which will be published soon.)
Confidence and optimism will be key for getting through this, both as individuals, as businesses and as an industry. We truly hope that by coming together and supporting our talented professional community, we will emerge from the crisis still strong.
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Further information and advice for those with concerns about employment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-those-affected-by-covid-19/support-for-those-affected-by-covid-19 (UK),https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-money-unemployment.html (USA) and via government resources worldwide.