Joan Francis, Consultant & Researcher
Several years ago, I worked predominantly within the blue chip arena and for no particular reason the majority of my team members and applicants were white, English locals. These individuals were the main that had applied for the type of positions I was then dealing with. Like most organisations, we have never discriminated against anyone; our doors were open to all.
How times and society have changed, and also how incredibly quickly it’s changed. The gates to multiculturalism within the UK have been ‘blown open’ rather than a slow, gradual trickle of other nationalities entering the localised job markets. Just recently, as I sat upstairs in my office, I could hear the conversations of various nationalities filtering up: Spanish and Portuguese end users discussing in their home tongue the difficulties of securing a position not only within their homeland but also here in the UK (both of these gentlemen are white collar workers under the age of 30 and speak three to four languages fluently). Other conversations included a group of Eastern European ladies, one of these ladies with a degree in business studies and fluent in Russian, French and English. I could continue and talk about our Lithuanians, Indians, French, African, and Chinese – all highly qualified but struggling to secure jobs. Reality is hard for many of them.
Change for us all nationally has impacted on us ‘hard and fast’, with recruiters having to speed up the pace and continually diversifying to accommodate all nationalities.
Current case studies include that of a qualified accountant supporting the business voluntary, she arrived from Canada back in September, her CV indicates a bright, intelligent confident woman who is truly convinced that her age goes against her, and therefore she always leaves dates that indicate her age off her CV. To date, she has secured one interview and relies on benefits and food parcels to get by. I have several candidates of the same calibre who are desperate to secure a position but also rely on benefits and food parcels. All would be fantastic assets to any organisation.
A young Portuguese man recently on my books is so frustrated by getting so near at the second Interview stage but failing dismally at the final post. He was too hungry for the position and desperation overtook logic. This young man was homeless and was sleeping in a Church for a while but managed to secure a room which improved his quality of life, but he still cannot secure work even though he has a degree and speaks four languages.
The amazing thing for me at present is the calibre and the multiculturalism of joblessness. It is not specific to one nationality or any particular class of person, it appears to be a case for many that, “I can’t find work in my homeland therefore, I will go elsewhere to secure a job” – not an easy task because elsewhere is in the same predicament as the homeland.
As an organisation, we do our best to support our candidates offering them solace via our retraining programmes, opportunities for free courses enabling them to consider diversifying current skills into a new arena, assertiveness courses to rebuild lost confidence or redirect if required to other agencies or bodies for further support. We do not drop if we cannot support in finding placements.
I have recently returned from a short break abroad and while I was in this foreign country, which has a strong economy, I spoke to several young men within the hospitality industry. They informed me that the process within their country was that if, when they left school, they did not secure a position at university they would automatically go into the army for at least one and half years. The requirement for the hospitality industry within this country was for all staff to speak several languages in order to be considered for progression and promotion through the business. Both of the young men spoke fluent English, German, French and Russian plus their own home tongue. This country relies heavily on tourism to retain its strong economy; the expectations are that the staff will self develop to be able to communicate with all customers (this is a requirement not a wish). Both of these young men were happy in their jobs with no intention of going or travelling elsewhere (at present).
The choice for them was to learn and earn or don’t and stay in the army.
Internationally, we all still have incredibly challenging times ahead of us, riding through the economic storm, but eventually that promising rainbow will emerge.
As recruiters amid the economic situation, we can’t ‘put it right’ but we can support and guide into building towards ‘getting it right’.
Joan Francis, MIRP CertRP, has been a member of the Recruitment Employment Confederation UK for the last 9 years supporting the biggest lobbying voice for the recruitment industry within the UK, a recognized and significant body. By trade, Joan is a Consultant /Researcher who enjoys a range of independent projects, independently sourced, which include research, investigation, consultation, and analysis.
