The focus of this blog is on the strategic workforce planning and development picture, sharing with you some of the insights about which sectors are hiring at the moment. Diving into these areas where these sectors are recruiting at the moment, and in Australia there have been a number of states and territories impacted by lockdowns due to COVID-19, there are some sectors that have been hit harder and have had more issues, but a lot of employers are still recruiting.
Let's run through this picture about what sectors are hiring at the moment. And with lockdown, it's tempting to have a bit of a pause over this time, particularly if you've been working hard at trying to find a job or build your business. It is important to take care of your mental health and have a bit of a relax, but what we’ve really got to do now is step things up.
The first tip is to see what the environment looks like at the moment. If you're seeking work or you’re looking for entrepreneurial or business opportunities, it's really important that you are reading and researching widely. Keeping an eye on those external factors and what's going on with the economy.
The economy is being divided up in new and different ways, for example essential jobs, enabling sectors, experiences (which were the ones that were clearly hit hard like tourism and hospitality) and then entrepreneurship. Thinking about where the demand and needs are coming from, this is the essential and enabling sectors. It's really those two areas, which have lots of sub-sectors underneath them, that are hiring very strongly at the moment.
What is on HR manager's minds at the moment is that there's a strong belief that there are many labor and skill shortages across Australia, also globally.
And when it comes to regional and remote locations, it is very acute. So, if you are looking for a job at this time then you need to get into the headset and the mindset of those HR, training and development, recruitment leaders thinking, "Okay. How could you bridge that gap? How could you get yourself in front of those sorts of people? How can you use your networks and connect with those key people?”
There are diverse pools of people that employers are wanting to tap into, much more than ever before, so don't press pause on your job search. Put yourself into the headset of a HR manager and make sure that you're reading and researching widely, tapping into all of the information that relates to employment in those industry sectors you are interested in.
You definitely want to explore the various industry sectors that you're interested in, and often they're a peak or professional body, or have other reports, information, about jobs and skill shortages. Maybe you need to think a bit broader about what sectors you might want to work in.
Think through a formula including looking at job vacancies and opportunities on platforms like Seek, LinkedIn, Facebook, Indeed; follow peak industry bodies, signing up to their enews, following them on socials, to see the sorts of information that's coming through.
Some of these job roles, even though it might not be the thing that you want to do long-term, perhaps it's something that you need to consider even in the short term. The reality is that more and more of us might have a business or something on the side, you might have a contract role, perhaps other job roles with more of a diverse portfolio that relates to your transferable skills.
It's really important that you're not only looking at things from a job seeker or a business opportunity point of view, you're putting yourself into the shoes of those HR and training managers, those marketing and business development managers that are trying to grow in different areas. Think more like a HR, follow the information that they're reading and researching - use that insight to get hints and tips as to where those kind of niche opportunities are. Work with HR people, recruiters, those industry sectors where jobs are growing and just finally, maybe try something different.