Page 30 - PWM2024_February

TECHNOLOGY REPORT

The new face of recruitment

mailing operators… The first round of recruitment coin-
ut the world of recruitment has changed. cided with another client having to close a factory which
No longer can organisations hire using the meant we had inside knowledge of various staff members’
The adoption of tech- ‘warm body’ approach, where someone is abilities.”
employed because they happen to be in the
nology is relentless, B right place at the right time. Now, more than For Thompson it was extremely satisfying to be able to
but businesses – and ever, firms in a time of heightened competition and a give hope to those who had only the previous week had
heard bad news.
that technology – still global pandemic, need to be very selective. On the flipside, he’s noticed a rise in direct mail as
need people. more people staying at home has played to its effective-
Whether it’s for man- A changed landscape ness as a marketing method.
George Thompson, joint managing director at
agement, the shop Harrison Scott Associates, a recruiter for the print sector, And beyond government and the healthcare sector,
floor, accounts or has seen first-hand how the world of print and recruit- Thompson has also seen firms linked to packaging
deliveries, people ment has been altered by the pandemic. In particular, he expanding their business. The same applies to web-to-
print and on-demand printing.
make the world go points to “the closure of shops and postponed events that But when a company fails, possibly because of the pan-
around as much as has resulted in a significant reduction in POS, large-for- demic, there are mixed opportunities for re-employment.
money. mat, and exhibition print”. He’s keenly aware that many Salespeople seem to find jobs relatively quickly, but pro-
printers have seen turnover drop significantly.
Thankfully there are positive stories to tell. Thompson duction staff find it more of a challenge. To illustrate,
Words by has seen those with large government contracts or who Westdale Press called in administrators in October 2020,
Adam Bernstein are linked to the healthcare sector thrive. As he details: and Thompson managed to find homes for two of the
“One of our longest-serving clients built a 10,000sqm fac- sales staff very quickly, “but other job functions have great
tory last year to serve government contracts and we difficulty finding new roles”.
recruited a great number of digital printers, finishers and The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development

30 PrintWeek MENA February 2024 www.printweekmena.com