HIGH numbers of job vacancies and difficulties in recruiting staff are shifting the balance of power between employers and prospective workers, according to an employment expert.
Heidi Gibaut, managing director of employment-relations company Law at Work, said businesses were now having to show greater flexibility to those who were unable or unwilling to conform to a five-day, ‘nine-to-five’, office-based regime.
She said the changing landscape had resulted from the number of empty posts, which currently exceeds the number of Islanders who are seeking work.
The challenging recruitment market – being fuelled by a lack of affordable accommodation and a shift towards early retirement – was cited by former Jersey Post chief executive Kevin Keen last week as one of the biggest challenges facing the Island’s new government.
Ms Gibaut said that difficulties in attracting new staff, and the enforced changes to working conditions arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, were contributing to a change in approach by many businesses.
‘Employers are realising that they have to change the mould and be more empathetic with staff – if someone has a reason why they can’t be at work at 9am, then employers should be looking at whether they can accommodate this,’ she said.
‘Employees have a greater expectation that their employer will have more of a focus on agile working and a culture of flexibility, and it’s become competitive – businesses who aren’t flexible are likely to lose out.’
Ms Gibaut said the challenging recruitment market was not sector-specific, but something that was being experienced Island-wide, affecting finance, hospitality, retail and the public sector, among others.
Claire Boscq, chief executive of the Jersey Hospitality Association, said her organisation was working hard to make it easier for businesses to attract staff.
She said: ‘We’re trying to look at all the options, engaging with schools in order to identify young talent, encouraging back-to-work schemes and talking to Customs about visa applications that have been delayed in London.’
Mrs Boscq said she hoped a recent ‘speed-dating’ event which allowed people to put questions to election candidates would prove beneficial when the Island’s new government was formed after next month’s election.
‘We want to establish relationships with those in government so that there’s an awareness and understanding of the issues that we are facing in hospitality,’ she said.
Both Ms Gibaut and Mrs Boscq highlighted the added difficulties being caused by the lack of affordable accommodation.
Ms Gibaut said: ‘Some people are moving to the UK because their employer has an office there, they can effectively take their job with them and perhaps make occasional visits to Jersey when they need to, which is a solution for them, but it’s not good for the economy.’
On Friday afternoon the government website showed 1,356 job vacancies, while the most recent figures from Statistics Jersey showed that 720 Islanders were actively seeking work on 31 March.
