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As we all slowly come to terms with what it means to live and work in Australia amid COVID-19, it’s easy to be weighed down by negativity. So, I thought I’d pen a post to combat some of that, and look forward to where the HR market might stand once we all get through this difficult time.

To do this, I look to the wider Asia-Pacific region, where many countries are some eight or nine weeks ahead of us in their COVID-19 spread and response. Some are now emerging from their lockdown status, and whilst things are by no means back to normal, it’s interesting to see how their HR markets fared, along with which industries were heavily impacted and which ones not only survived, but thrived.

A Model for Our Future?

Whilst it’s true the Asian market has numerous clear differences to Australia, it’s currently the best model we have for where we’re heading.

In this region, many industries bore the brunt of the lockdown, but it was particularly brutal for the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors. On the flip side, others performed extremely well, with the obvious being pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and tech (a great example is Zoom – their share price jumped by 101% in just under two months).

Even though we’re still in the early stages here, the picture appears similar. The big airlines have temporarily stood down almost two-thirds of their workforce, and the situation is uncertain for our restaurant scene. However, some of the key areas where HR and recruitment efforts are redoubling include food retail, with the large grocery chains needing more muscle to handle Australia’s penchant for panic buying, as well as pharmaceuticals, healthcare and the consumer products that are in currently high demand.

Another key takeaway from the Asian market is that many HR roles have been retained. This could be because a large number of firms continued to operate with lean HR numbers post-GFC. As such, they haven’t made any large-scale restructures or redundancies thus far. The Australian HR scene runs in a similar ‘resource-conscious’ vein, so we might see the same outcome, which is positive news.

Next Steps – Personally and Professionally

Whilst it’s difficult to imagine right now, this situation isn’t forever. The HR market will bounce back, and it’s bound to do so quickly and intensely. This is particularly the case here, as many Australian companies operate domestically, and can move forward quickly when it comes to decision making and production. In contrast, some countries in the Asia-Pacific region heavily rely on the green light from global headquarters in the UK or US, where they are still very much at the start of their COVID-19 cycle.

In the interim, it’s important to remember that HR has always been key in leading organisations through change management and restructuring, so the profession will remain critical to business even in turbulent times.

When we all emerge on the other side, it’s likely things may look a little different in the HR market. We might experience a situation similar to the GFC recovery phase, when we saw a big shift towards contracting, with many companies initially reluctant to approve permanent headcount. However, this also meant people remained employed and businesses kept going.

But to get to that stage, we all need to follow the recommended guidelines, which are to stay home and stay safe. I wish you the very best in doing this and encourage you to let me know if I can help with HR-related advice during these uncertain times.