How times have changed in only a matter of weeks, the market has changed drastically for everyone – including the recruitment industry.

It’s been interesting to see how businesses are adapting to this change and implementing the rules of social distancing into everyday operation.  

I wanted to share an update on how we are finding the employment market and what has changed the past few weeks within the Real Estate and Property sector.

At a Glance:

• Retail and Commercial property have experienced the biggest change shifting permanents to 3 and 6 month contracts
• Positions have been put on hold or cancelled.
• Finance and facilities management is one area people have been able to 'add value'

The impact has quite simply been huge, as companies have either put a recruitment freeze in place or shifted start dates.

Retail Property and Commercial Property are where we have experienced the biggest change with permanent employment shifting to three and six month contracts for experienced individuals who are available immediately, and have the ability to work remotely with the outlook for their positions to go permanent once the hiring freezes are lifted.

If companies are unable to put contractors in place then the positions have either been put on hold or cancelled.

Finance and Facilities Management professionals have been one of the main areas where individuals can ‘add value’ to an organisation as they navigate through this difficult period.

This is followed by the Development and Residential sector where there is still a lot of interest from businesses to hire commission only sales people plus, the shift towards experienced Acquisition Managers who understand the commercial and residential market as cashed up business look to take advantage of opportunities.

The Body Corporate sector we have found is steady with some companies still hiring. For our clients still recruiting, social distancing makes the task more difficult; much of it has to be done by online video calls rather than face to face.

We have watched our clients shift their teams to working from home, onboard new staff members whilst following social distancing rules and come across some impressive ways of how they are keeping everyone engaged and proactive whilst working remotely.

We have clients who have had to reduce their teams hours, stand people down or make redundancies.

The last few weeks have been tough for all, we are doing everything we can to keep people employed wherever possible and to assist our clients in maintaining staffing levels or offering short term assistance where required.

One thing that stood out to us is relationships. Now more than ever, incomparable connections and quality business and individual relationships play a vital role in getting through this uncertain time.

We too have needed to adapt! Our interview process has changed to online video calls rather than face to face, and our client meetings have changed to detailed phone calls or zoom meetings.

Our day to day has drastically changed from being highly interactive and social to ensuring we are providing the same level of service whilst making the relevant changes that will contribute to us getting past this pandemic.

As we start to see some positive news stories about the decrease of infections in Australia, we still have a long way to go until we return to our normal way of life.

This might be seen as our ‘new normal’ and as a society we adapt to the daily changes and technological advances to make sure we can stay ahead of the game and assist our clients and candidates wherever possible.

Our team takes pride in playing a pivotal role in supporting our clients and candidates, always looking to add value through our strong relationships we have.

In the last few weeks we have had exceptional candidates not seen on the job market in years, contact us and enquire about the job prospects fully understanding companies may not be in a position to engage at this stage but may be open to a discussion.

We have some clients who are wanting to keep abreast of standout talent and they will be ahead of the curve when this is behind us.

We would love to hear your positive stories about how you and your business are adapting in this current climate and adding value.  

Visit Recon Jobs to find positions vacant listed with Iconic Recruit

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