With loosening quarantine restrictions life is returning to its old tracks, however, social and economic impacts of the crisis will be felt for a long time to come. The job market was one of the most affected by the pandemic. Thousands of employees are forced to worry about their future. On the other hand, the crisis only accelerated processes, which were observed in the job market for quite some time. For ones able to adapt this means new opportunities while challenges await that lacking flexibility.

According to the director of the personnel recruitment group “CVO Recruitment I Simplika“ Akvile Kazliene, the changes in the market demand for qualifications and competencies, as well as transformations in job and career processes, are influenced by the fourth industrial revolution. Remaining competitive in the job market not only during these difficult times but also after the pandemic requires adapting to these changes.

“For a while now, companies have been devoting more attention to process optimization by automation. With the increasing capabilities of technology, an ever-larger share of routine processes and tasks are delegated to advanced algorithms and robots instead of humans. As a result of this, demand for certain skills is decreasing, while some professions become a thing of the past altogether. At the same time, the rising demand for new skills might make it difficult for those lacking said skills to remain competitive in the job market. These trends are going to be more pronounced in the near future as more companies are feeling the pressure to continue optimizing their processes and generate value efficiently”, says A. Kazliene in an address to the media.

In addition, A. Kazliene notes that the increased supply of specialists caused by the coronavirus crisis results in higher employer expectations. The scales of balance now tip from the employee’s to the employer’s side, which is why it is important for employees to broaden their expertise as well as develop competencies and skills that are desirable today.

From employee to the employer market

“If they wish to remain in demand, employees must master a certain “learn and adapt” strategy. This sort of strategy is now becoming key to a successful career. In the present day it is quite naive to believe that by acquiring a certain set of skills and knowledge you will remain competitive in the job market for the rest of your life”, says the job market expert.

Because of this, according to A. Kazliene, in hopes of adapting to change and strengthening one’s position in the job market in these challenging times, it is of utmost importance to allocate enough attention to learning, improving and development of one’s skills. This can be said not only for technical knowledge and skills, but also so-called “soft skills” such as communication, teamwork, creative and critical thinking skills, etc. It is also especially important to develop the ability to have a broad outlook, evaluate context, not to limit yourself in your narrow field. In other words, it is important to find time for comprehensive self-improvement.

Opportunities exist - what is important is taking advantage of them

“In regards to actual employment opportunities today as never before you should be open and flexible, consider positions that might seem only tangentially related to your expertise or non-standard offers. The coronavirus pandemic definitely did not reduce demand for employees in all sectors. In fact, in some areas, it has increased greatly. That could be said not only about e-commerce, distribution, medicine or pharmaceutical industries but also some sectors of production, call centres. The demand for IT and financial specialists is also not decreasing”, says A. Kazliene.

According to A. Kazliene, even those specialists that for many years worked in a sector that is currently experiencing hard times such as, for example, tourism or aviation, should consider looking into jobs in other sectors too. These areas might have more opportunities in the present days, while employers are eagerly hiring employees that show initiative and desire to learn even under current conditions.

Challenges will not end with the pandemic

“One should not discard temporary employment opportunities or offers for lower but prospective positions. It is important to remain determined and flexible. Then even if a door closes in one area they are certainly going to open in another. This is going to remain the case even after the pandemic is over which is why one should become comfortable with the thought that the fundamental skill of the near future will be the ability to rapidly realign oneself. This means, that it is important to constantly be ready to learn, march together with the progress of technologies while not neglecting your “soft skills” such as stress and uncertainty management, self-motivation, ability to quickly find solutions and make decisions, time and emotion management”, notes A. Kazliene.