According to HR Grapevine their are questions HR needs to answer during this pandemic. Employers are having to make difficult decisions regarding staff headcounts and plans about how they can keep the business financially afloat going forwards. Sadly, some employees have been laid off as a result of the uncertainties that the pandemic has caused, while other workers face various uncertainties regarding their tenure going forwards. But in times like this, when employers are having to make difficult decisions, employees will not be afraid to vocalise how their organisation is going about handling the crisis, according to Glassdoor's Community Expert, Jo Cresswell. With some employees looking to switch roles – or looking for a role after they have been laid off – Webb explained that it is important to find an employer that genuinely cares about its staff, particularly during an anxiety-inducing time like this.This is something that one people leader referenced to in a recent LinkedIn post.Gymshark’s Head of People Projects, Amanda Webb, took to LinkedIn sharing that, currently, the actions of employers are ‘speaking a thousand words’ about the way that they treat their staff. To help candidates assess the genuine nature of a prospective employer, Webb shared a list of potential questions that she would encourage jobseekers to ask their interviewer during the hiring process. The flipside being, HR should have good answers to these questions. If it is worried it hasn’t then it should make sure it is influencing decisions in a way that allows it to provide positive answers to potential questions from prospective talent. That said, Webb’s questions included: What initiatives did you put in place for your employees during COVID-19? What business values were most represented during COVID-19? What behaviours did the leadership team demonstrate when making difficult business decisions during COVID-19? How did you communicate with your employees during COVID-19? Asking questions like this would help candidates gauge a sense of how an employer supports staff during difficult periods and whether the business decisions that are being made are people-centric. This post attracted several comments from other LinkedIn users who shared additional questions for candidates to consider. Dr Naomi Irvine, a consultant, shared on the professional networking site some questions that she said aren’t necessarily intended to be asked at an interview, but questions to consider in general: What was the biggest challenge this [pandemic] presented? Who challenged your leadership and how did you respond? How many people left and did you ask why? Who did [the organisation] look to for guidance and inspiration? Getting answers to some of these questions will give prospective employees with greater clarity within their job search.

Whitbread, owner of the Premier Inn chain, British Airways and the Evening Standard are among the latest names to announce that, due to the devastating financial ramifications of the current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and the effect that this illness is having on business, they will be putting staff on furlough – the current scheme, revealed by the Government in March which allows businesses to put staff on indefinite sabbatical whilst receiving 80% of pay from the Government. And these businesses are not alone; according to the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC), nearly half of all UK-based firms will furlough around 50% of their workforce over the next week. According to the latest research released by the BCC, which polled its members to discover the state of play for many UK businesses, 44% of businesses will temporarily halt all activities for half of their workforces in an effort to wait out coronavirus’ effects on the global economy. Businesses are struggling, with the majority of companies reporting a significant decrease in their revenue from both the UK and overseas. The BCC report states that 18% of businesses currently have less than a month's worth of cash in reserve, while 44% reported only one to three months' worth of cash in reserve. Only six per cent of respondents reported to have more than 12 months’ cash in reserve. Director General for the BCC, Dr Adam Marshall, told Sky News: "The coronavirus pandemic has taken a heavy toll on business and economic activity across the UK. While businesses have welcomed the unprecedented size and scope of the government support packages, our findings highlight the urgent need for that support to reach businesses on the ground as soon as possible. The majority of firms cannot wait weeks or months for help to arrive.” “There is no escaping the challenge that is facing UK businesses and many are finding ways to contribute to the national effort. Chambers and its members are working together to play their part, including gathering unused PPE equipment from local businesses and delivering them to the NHS," he said. "I've no doubt we will see further examples of resilience and innovation – the hallmarks of the UK business community – in the coming weeks and months."

HR Grapevine looks at the cccupations that expose workers to coronavirus the most. At Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s orders, many UK employees have temporarily moved to remote working arrangements to relieve pressure on the NHS and prevent the virus from spreading further. However, there are jobs that either can’t be done remotely or require people to continue going into their place of work. Given that coronavirus is spread due to close human contact, such as via breath and touching surfaces, those workers that are in close contact with others, or who are regularly exposed to infection and disease, are at a greater risk of contracting COVID-19. Occupations that expose workers to coronavirus the most With that in mind, a recently published interactive chart has collated data showcasing the occupations that expose workers to coronavirus the most. According to data published on autonomy.work, nursing was identified as an occupation that involves high physical proximity (94) and a high exposure to infection and disease (95), so workers in this occupation could be at a greater risk of contracting COVID-19. Medical practitioners, dental nurses and practioners, hospital porters and paramedics also shared equally high levels of physical proximity and exposure to infection and disease because of the nature of the job. Waiters and waitresses received a score of 80 for physical proximity to others while their exposure to disease was relatively low at 20. Chefs, catering and bar managers, taxi drivers and chauffeurs also demonstrated high levels of physical proximity but low exposure to disease. Further down the rankings, financial managers and directors received a score of just over 50 for physical proximity to others, with a low score of circa five for exposure to disease. Vehicle technicians, mechanics, printers, IT engineers and business development managers also received far higher scores for physical proximity to others, as opposed to exposure to disease. On the other end of the scale, farmers received a relatively low score for both physical proximity to others and exposure to disease, with graphic designers, fork-lift truck drivers, economists and statisticians receiving lower scores too. In the interactive charts published on autonomy.work’s website, the site plotted 273 different UK-based occupations according to the numbers employed in each, the level of physical proximity that each job requires, and the potential exposure to disease or infections that each job entails. The study stated that each blue dot represents an occupation; the larger the dot, the more people employed in that occupation. On the firm’s website, hovering on each blue dot will provide a plethora of information including the gender split in this occupation and median pay. Each job has a score that ranks it for both physical proximity and exposure to infection and disease. The data has also been unpicked into different graphs to highlight different data including employment and exposure to diseases and infections, employment and physical proximity to others and employment and overall Risk Infection Factor (RIF). The methodology Autonomy.work explained that the study was conducted in a similar fashion to that which The New York Times recently published though, this study, focussed on the UK context. They used the O*NET database which holds details on thousands of US occupations. They provided a score for exposure to disease by asking ‘how often does this job require exposure to disease/ infections’. Answers varied from every day, once a week, once a year, once a month and never. For the physical proximity measure, they asked ‘to what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in physical proximity to other people'. Answers ranged from ‘very close’ to ‘slightly close’ and rarely working with other people. The researchers matched the US occupations in the O*NET data to the ONS Standard Occupational Classification system to find out what these metrics mean for UK-based jobs. ONS data was then used to find out the gender split and median pay of those working in each occupation. Source: HR Grapevine

According an article from HR Grapevine 41% of workers claim that they are missing office banter and spending time with their work friends (40%) as remote working has quickly become the new norm. The research, which was conducted by Vodafone, found that having company around you (35%), sticking to a routine (32%), bouncing ideas off one another (30%) and the motivational office buzz (22%) were also things that employees said they were missing due to working from home. Almost one-fifth (19%) said that they miss engaging in grown-up conversations with colleagues, possibly because a large portion of employees are juggling home-schooling and professional commitments simultaneously. The top ten things Brits miss about being in the office Work banter (41%) Colleagues (40%) Having company around me (35%) Routine (32%) Bouncing ideas off each other (30%) The office buzz to motivate me (22%) Collaborating with others (21%) Learning from others & grown up conversation (17%) The commute (nine per cent) Watercooler gossip (eight per cent) While employees may be missing the office, the research did unearth some positives to this period of remote working. 51% of Brits said that working from home has allowed them to claw back extra time due to the lack of commute. One-third (37%) of employees said they can lie in and 20% said that they are able to spend more time with pets. The findings also revealed that 29% of Brits are reaping the financial benefits of working from home as they aren’t currently splurging on coffee, buying lunch out or doing a bit of retail therapy over lunchtime. While employees aren’t in a physical office environment with colleagues, the research found that they are doing their best to stay in touch virtually. Click here for the full article.

Right to work checks have been temporarily adjusted due to Coronavirus (COVID-19). This is to make it easier for employers to carry them out. As of 30 March 2020 the following temporary changes have been made: checks can now be carried out over video calls job applicants and existing workers can send scanned documents or a photo of documents for checks using email or a mobile app, rather than sending originals employers should use the Employer Checking Service if a prospective or existing employee cannot provide any of the accepted documents

EMSI Report In our piece on Using Labour Market Data During a Time of Crisis, we showed using our Job Posting Analytics the sharp drop in employer hiring during the month of March, due to the Covid-19 crisis, and wondered whether this might be a blip or the beginning of a longer-term trend. In view of what has happened since that piece, it probably comes as no surprise that this drop in recruiting activities has indeed continued, with 179,000 fewer postings today than on March 7th — a drop of more than 10% — as the updated chart below shows: But this raises a number of questions: Which occupations are being most affected? Are there big regional variations? Is there a straight correlation between recorded incidents of Covid-19 and the change in job postings? We’ll be looking at these sorts of things over the coming days, but let’s start with that first question of occupational change. The following chart shows change in job postings over the same period, broken down into the nine 1-digit Standard Occupation Classifications (SOC): There are a number of really interesting things to note from these figures: In terms of sheer numbers, the biggest decline in postings has been for Professional occupations, with 50,000 less postings than on 7th March, whereas the smallest drop in numbers was for Process, plant and machine operatives with a drop of 4,700 postings. In terms of proportionate decline, the biggest drop has been in Skilled trades occupations, which has fallen by almost 15%, whilst the smallest decline has been in Caring, leisure and other service occupations, which have declined by 8.6%. The situation is of course changing very rapidly, so watch out for more updates in the days to come. Click here to visit the EMSI website

EMSI Report Having looked at the change in employer postings during the Covid-19 crisis, both in terms of its effect on actual occupations and regions, we’re now going to do something we think you will find really fascinating — meshing our job postings data together with Government data on the outbreak to show the correlation between the two. In the chart below, we have plotted the daily change in job postings since the beginning of February, along with the cumulative numbers of confirmed Covid-19 case throughout the country. The picture really is stark, with employer hiring tailing off from 21st March, and then dropping like a stone on 22nd March and following. However, although there is correlation, it should be noted that it is not so much the case increases themselves that have led to the massive drop — postings were still holding up reasonably well when the official cases reached around 4,000 — but rather the measures that have been imposed by the Government, which have obviously caused many employers to cease their hiring plans: We can also look at the slump in recruitment activity by region, and plot it against the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases. The chart below shows this, with the Y-axis showing the change in job postings since 7th March, and the X-axis showing the number of confirmed cases: The data here is still somewhat in its infancy, but as the crisis unfolds, we would expect to see: The regions all moving towards the bottom right hand corner, as cases rise and employers slow their hiring. At some point, all regions moving back towards the top left, as cases eventually fall and employers begin looking for employees once more. For more about EMSI please click here.

There has been a decline in job postings of over 200,000 since 7th March, and EMSI have looked at the effect this has had on occupations, regions, and the correlation between confirmed Covid-19 cases and the fall in demand. Today we again look at occupations, but whereas that first piece looked at the high level 1-digit Standard Occupation Classifications (SOC), we can now dig deeper to look at much more specific occupations at the 4-digit SOC level. Although there has been a massive slump in employer demand generally over the past few weeks, here are the key questions we are looking to answer: Are there any particular occupations where demand has been hit really badly? Are there any occupations where demand has actually grown?The following chart helps us answer these questions: There are some fascinating data points here. On the decline side, it comes as little surprise to see some of the biggest falls in demand being for Chefs, and Kitchen and catering assistants. As restaurants, cafes and pubs are all closed, hiring for these jobs was likely to dry up, and we see this happening with about 5,400 fewer postings for Kitchen and catering assistants, and 8,300 fewer postings for Chefs since 7th March. What may be more surprising is to see nurses on the list. Surely, we would expect to see an increase in demand for nurses, not less? There are a couple of good reasons why this is happening. Firstly, although nurses are clearly in need at this time, hospitals are likely to be overstretched and entirely new recruits are not actually going to help with that problem in the short term. Secondly, managing the recruitment and on-boarding process for new nurses may well be a distraction at this time. So lots of hospitals may well have halted the recruitment process for a time, choosing to work with the nurse they already have, rather than create the distraction of bringing in new people. At the other end of the scale, there are clearly very few occupations that are seeing an increase in demand. It seems odd to see the likes of Musicians in the mix, but this really is simply because the numbers there are so small (an increase of 4 since 7th March), and as the days and weeks go on, we should expect to see other occupations beginning to pick up. What we also see, however, is the increase in Elementary storage occupations, which are defined by the Office for National Statistics as: “Workers in this minor group load and unload cargo from ships, boats and barges, supply berthed ships with water, oil and fuel, load, unload and convey furniture, goods and other equipment in and around warehouses, depots and similar establishments, and accompany motor vehicle and other road vehicle drivers.” As people are relying to a large extent on home deliveries, it’s easy to see why this occupation is one of the few that has seen some growth over the past few weeks.

Working from our dining table, kitchen worktop or sofa is the ‘new norm’ for many employees as employers ask staff to work from home for the coming weeks or months to help stop the spread of coronavirus. But as everyone adjusts to this new way of remote working, how should employers be taking care of the wellbeing of staff during this uncertain time? As more individuals social distance themselves and self-isolate, as recommended by the UK Government, this life of solitude can have damaging effects on the mental wellbeing of many. For example, recent research has discovered that the initial wave of coronavirus has triggered a mental health crisis in China, with Governments around the world being told to prepare in case they experience a similar issue. A paper in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, published by the US Government’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, found that the outbreak caused “generalised fear and fear-induced overreactive behaviour among the public,” which resulted in a “public mental health crisis”. Following this research, Matthew Dickason, Global Managing Director at Hays Talent Solutions, has shared some steps that employers can follow to support their team during a crisis. Addressing anxiety As the environment continues to change constantly, with new developments emerging daily, being mindful about anxiety and showing support to staff is essential during this time. Dickason continued: “While events continue to unfold, one of the biggest causes of anxiety will be mixed messaging meaning frequent communication is important for any company, so employees are not left uncertain about what to do. It is imperative that a leadership team has only ‘one single source of truth’ for staff to reference in the form of a central intranet page, containing updated policies and information on things like sick leave, quarantine procedures and remote working practices.” He added that management teams should be in constant contact with their staff to deliver updates on the impact and actions being taken, plus discussing information from health organisations and Government sites will also help to aid any anxious feelings. “Without this alignment, you risk having teams working to different assumptions and making tactical decisions,” he said. Open communication When an entire workforce is working remotely, feelings of isolation can quickly creep in. Putting in place open lines of communication that can be accessed frequently can help with this. Dickason advised: “To avoid the isolation that can come with working from home, especially for those not used to it, teams should be encouraged to create virtual water-cooler moments as well as their usual daily stand-ups.” Points of contact When in the office during a normal working day, there are plenty of people who team members will most likely know to contact regarding a certain matter. However, when working remotely this can be a different story entirely. It is vital employees know the most key people to contact on queries such as company policies, questions about leave, sickness and pay and resources to support remote working and wellbeing. “As many businesses have had to quickly transition into remote working producing tips, tricks and advice for working from home can also help members of staff adjust to their new way of working. Sending these out in the form of e-mails, guides and reminders on how to stay active and healthy when working from home, how to get access/make the most of collaboration tools and set up your home office for optimum productivity and well-being are just a few ways to help employees through unsettling times,” he concluded.

In the midst of the fear, worry, and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, each day seems to bring news that’s worse than the day before. However, according to Havard University there are some positives to be taken from this pandemic. The good news about the coronavirus pandemic Most people with COVID-19 recover Estimates now suggest that 99% of people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 will recover. Some people have no symptoms at all. And while thousands of people have died, the overall death rate is about 1% (or perhaps even lower), far less than MERS (about 34%), SARS (about 11%), or Ebola (90%), though higher than the average seasonal flu (0.1%).The loss of life related to this illness is terrible and far more cases are expected, but based on the fatality rates alone, it could be far worse. Children seem to be infected less often and have milder disease According to the CDC, the vast majority of infections so far have afflicted adults. And when kids are infected, they tend to have milder disease. For kids and their parents, that’s good news. However, it’s important to note that children can develop infection. A recent study from China early in the outbreak demonstrated that a small number of kids, especially infants and toddlers, can develop serious infection. As is true generally, it’s likely that kids can spread infection in the absence of symptoms, though how often this happens is unclear. It’s perplexing, though fortunate, that this new coronavirus does not behave the way so many other illnesses do, in which the elderly and the young are particularly vulnerable. The number of new cases is falling where the outbreak began During his speech declaring the new coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, the director-general of the WHO pointed out that “China and the Republic of Korea have significantly declining epidemics.” In fact, Wuhan province (site of the very first cases) has just reported no new local cases for the first time since the outbreak began. The only new cases were “imported” from travelers arriving there. While actual numbers are hard to verify, and the methods these countries used to contain infection, such as aggressive diagnostic testing and strict isolation measures, are unlikely to be practical or acceptable everywhere, if the number of new cases in China is truly declining, that’s a good thing and suggests that efforts to contain the spread of this infection can be successful. The internet exists We currently have ways to practice social distancing that preserve at least some social and medical connections. People in isolation or quarantine can ask for help, visit friends, “see” family and doctors virtually, and provide updates on their condition. Our response to future pandemics should improve The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed shortcomings in healthcare systems throughout the world that provide an opportunity to improve them. For example, a faster global response, better and quicker distribution of testing kits, and more coordinated and coherent public messaging should be expected the next time around. (No guarantees, of course.) The bottom line Make no mistake: the new coronavirus epidemic is a big problem that’s expected to become bigger in the weeks and months to come. For those who are infected as well as those trying to avoid infection, these are trying times. But amid all the doom and gloom, there are some positive stories, positive messages and reasons to remain hopeful. At a time when the citizenry of this country is so politically divided, we can also hope that this threat brings us together in ways that help us to better recognize commonalities: we’re all human, we get sick, and we worry about loved ones. As social creatures, we try to help one another when bad things happen. If that happens, it would be good news that could not have been foreseen before the pandemic.