Never has there been more in your face proof that work sits at the core of who we are as people. That we took it for granted.
That we have let it define us. Rightly or wrongly.
Maybe that will change now? Maybe it will all be different this time next year?
It is too hard to tell. And anyway, there’s more important stuff to deal with right now.
What are the real jobs?
It seems we also took some professions for granted, not just work itself.
Cleaners are now heroes. In PPE, doing the cleaning. Spraying and wiping. Protecting us from ourselves.
Like real-life superheroes.
Doctors and nurses will become celebrities. They should always have been anyway. But we didn’t really think about it back then did we?
Not until it affected us directly. It does now though, doesn’t it?
Teachers. Oh, we love them now, as well don’t we? Looking after our Ava’s, Harry’s and Olivia’s. How do they do it day in, day out?
Epidemiologists. Big word. Big job. Going unnoticed pretty much. Until about six months ago. That is a job with impact. That is a job that makes a difference. How many people after this will think “I want to do a job like that?”
Not many of us queuing up to be politicians though. Or will there be? Will some of us think “I could do a better job than {first name}.”
They’d be right for a lot of them.
What about them though? How will they be remembered? What will we do about the underperformers? How will those jobs change in the future? Will we demand more from them?
Short term policies rarely work well. But there can be good policy but unpopular politicians so what will we do about it?
Will recruiting change?
People will need to get back to work at some stage. As the jobs open up again the recruiters will have their work cut out. Managing applications and interviews. For the 25m + unemployed people.
That is a lot of work, But when the recruitment teams are unemployed as well, who is going to do it all? Wow, it will be some rush job to hire them all quickly and get them doing it all again?
Carnage. You can just imagine it can’t you?
Will candidates get ghosted then? Will they throw their resumes into the pile with the other 24.99m and hope for the best? Will they take any job or will they want to return to their former glory?
Will the mass employers have a “beggars can’t be choosers” attitude? Will the people say “F*ck you, we are not begging, we have been through enough already!”
Or will they just take the job?
Will Employer Branding really mean anything then? Maybe, maybe not.
Will Glassdoor reviews matter? Maybe.
Will CEO ratings matter? They should.
Imagine when we all get back to work though.
I bet there has been a lot of budget birthdays this year. Imagine being able to afford to treat the kids again? Taking them to the movies on a Friday night. Burgers and Pizza. Milkshake.
There probably won’t be any overseas holidays for a long time.
Lot’s of road trips though. Singing in the car. I spy, for 250km.
“How long till we get there?”
Public transport will be strange, won’t it? Lots of shuffling. We will all suddenly be really polite. “No, after you.”
Letting people go first, not wanting to get too close.
We will still be a bit wary for a while. Designer face masks. Tommy Hilfiger and all that nonsense.
On magazine covers, “The new winter range. So you” Instagram Duck faces behind designer face masks.
Lit.
One thing is for sure though, out of all this.
Work really is an emotion, It doesn’t matter if we let it define who we are as people. That is down to the individual.
But it does make us feel. It reminds us of all the good things in life. And there is a lot of them. More than bad.
And that makes me think that recruiting is a pretty good job to have.
Most of the time. 🙂
Cover image: Austin Pacheco on Unsplash
This article first appeared on wearecrew.io blog on 7 May 2020.
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