Businesses must anticipate gaps in workforce in order to bounce back

Sky Recruitment Solutions is predicting that many business owners could be caught off-guard if furloughed staff decide not to return to work and redundancies are made too hastily.

The firm, which specialises in industrial roles at all levels throughout the region, foresees a potential “recruitment nightmare” preventing companies from getting off the starting blocks when restrictions are lifted.

David Torrington, managing director of Sky Recruitment Solutions, expects that companies could be topping up with temporary agency staff to fill the voids where orders are still there but staff may not be.

It comes as the Institute for Employment Studies revealed that unemployment has already risen to at least 2.5 million, or around 7.5 per cent of the workforce, a far quicker rise than in any of the last three recessions.

But David said the current climate was an opportunity for firms to review their structures to help ensure the economy recovers quickly.

He said: “Those in roles prior to the lockdown period may not be the staff required to take that same business forward. Businesses will unfortunately make redundancies, and staff that have been furloughed may decide not to return to work once the furlough ends, leaving gaps in their workforce.”