This week's Staffline blog is authored by Managing Director of Staffline's NI Branch Network, Donna Parker. Donna is a recognised recruitment industry leader with over a decade of experience in management and all facets of recruiting. Covid 19 has had a devastating impact on the Northern Ireland Economy. Over 9,600 redundancies have been proposed up to the end of October 2020 – more than double the total for the previous 12 months. This, combined with over 70,000 workers still on Furlough, makes for some grim reading. Having lived and recruited through the great recession of 2008 I can see many similar patterns emerging. We are seeing candidates who have worked for organisations for many years coming to us in despair saying they simply don’t know how to do anything else aside from the job they have always done, or that they feel like they will never get through an interview process. Confidence can be at rock bottom and this is where we can help. My advice is the same in 2020 as it was in 2008; keep an open mind and let us help you come out of your comfort zone – consider things you would never have thought about before such as taking a look at temporary work. Very often people have a great fear of the unknown, but the temp market in Northern Ireland is a buoyant one! Many of Northern Ireland’s leading employers have large temporary work forces that are employed all year round via an agency across a variety of disciplines. From Accountants to Zookeepers and Horticulturists to HR Managers we work with our clients to service their needs across a range of temporary, interim and contract roles. Some people have a perception of temporary work as a low paid and that the agency takes a percentage of your salary for finding them work. This is absolutely not true. We have many people working for us on a temporary basis earning salaries of 30k + across a range of job roles and we charge the client for providing the service, not the worker. Our service is completely free for job seekers to use. Once a person takes that first step by registering with the agency we work with our clients on your behalf to find a position that works for you. We liaise with our clients on your behalf, and in many cases save you stress of an interview situation as the client trusts our judgement, and if we are recommending you for a role they are more than happy to take our recommendation. Many job seekers are surprised by the variety of hours and work patterns that are available as well as the types of roles. This helps them manage a good work life balance and work around other commitments they may have such as childcare or caring responsibilities. It also gives you a fantastic chance to try out different job roles and companies that you maybe would never have considered, without any commitment on your part to stay. If you go into a role that you don’t like or a company that doesn’t suit you then no problem, we can find you something else. When working for us you are weekly paid. This can also be a real benefit to people who have perhaps been unemployed for a while or who haven’t received a redundancy payment. It is processed directly into your bank on a weekly basis ensuring you have access to your cash when and where you need it. Many of our temporary workers go on to secure permanent employment with our clients and we have numerous examples of workers who have taken a temporary role as a stop gap and have gone on to secure a permanent role and have risen through the ranks of business all across Northern Ireland. If you find yourself out of work due to COVID-19, or are perhaps on Furlough and uncertain what the future holds for you - give us a call. You have nothing to lose and you may just discover how tempting being a temp can be! Browse all our current temporary vacancies here.