With governments around the world starting the process of ending lockdown, how will your career after coronavirus (Covid-19) be affected?
The outburst of the pandemic coronavirus (Covid-19) has had an unimaginable effect on our lives. As a result, he global economic situation is predicted to suffer post coronavirus with many companies facing hardship.
So if you are over 50, how will your career after coronavirus be affected?
Before we start with advice for those over 50, we thought we would share some information that you could find useful in your decision making when considering your career after coronavirus.
Some Interesting Statistics:
Global statistics seem to show that the majority of the worse affected are those over 60 with existing health conditions including diabetes, Asthma, COPD.
The median age of cases of coronavirus (covid-19) detected outside of China is 45 years
Current Deaths Due To Coronavirus (Covid-19)
The current population of Africa is 1,335,094,519. The median age in Africa is 20 years. Africa’s population is equivalent to 16.72% of the total world population.
The current population of Asia is 4,634,606,175 The median age in Asia is 32 years. Asia’s population is equivalent to 59.76% of the total world population.
The current population of Europe is around 748 million with a median age of 43 years. Europe population is equivalent to 9.78% of the total world population.
The current population of Latin America and the Caribbean is 653,012,164 The median age in Latin America and the Caribbean is 31 years. Latin America and the Caribbean population is equivalent to 8.42% of the total world population.
The current population of Northern America is 368,503,280 The median age in Northern America is 39 years. Northern America’s population is equivalent to 4.73% of the total world population.
The current population of Oceania is 42,587,468 The median age in Oceania is 33 years. Oceania’s population is equivalent to 0.5% of the total world population.
So two of the most economically influential continents (Europe & North America) account for less than 15% of the total world population. Yet they have a significantly higher median age than those on the other 3 continents.
This points to Europe and North America being most affected by covid-19. In fact figures up to the end of June 2020 show that with the exception of Brazil – the countries with the most deaths from covid-19 are in North America and Europe.
Black And Minority Ethnic (BAME)
Members of the BAME (Black And Minority Ethnic) population have also been said to suffer disproportionately by between 2 – 4 times higher.
Whilst that might be true in Europe and North America, it does not seem to be the same in Africa. Countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya have much lower death rates.
As highlighted by the statistics above, there is much more reliance on workers over 50 in North America and Europe.
In USA a Harvard University report entitled Demographics of an Aging America stated that:
“Just over 34 percent of the US population is aged 50 and over, and their numbers are rising rapidly with the aging of the baby-boom generation. Indeed, their numbers are projected to climb from 21.7 million in 2010 to 32.8 million in 2020 and then to 38.6 million in 2030.”
In the UK employment of workers over the age of 50 has grown significantly over the past decades with the employment rate for people aged 50 to 64 growing from 55.4 to 69.6 percent over the past 30 years.
Expected Job Losses Due to Coronavirus:
The global economic situation is predicted to suffer post coronavirus with many companies facing hardship. The number of Americans who have lost their jobs in the past 10 weeks soared to more than 40 million.
However, latest figures show that over 2 million jobs have now been created with more expected to follow.
The Coronavirus pandemic is having a huge impact on the European labour market with predicted losses of 12 million full-time jobs in Europe in 2020.
In India over 122 million people lost their jobs in April, according to estimates from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
Almost 1 million Australians have lost their jobs since social-distancing measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 were ramped up.
Just prior to the onset of coronavirus, there was a growing number of people – especially among those over 50 plus – struggling with their work-life balance.
Many were concerned about increased job demands. For example that they should be available 24/7 since they can check in from anywhere using their Smartphone.
Coronavirus (Covid-19) has really highlighted just how much humans need to socialize, relax and care for themselves to stay happy and healthy.
This means that the traditional office workplace may have to undergo fundamental permanent changes. In many ways, these issues are now being addressed.
Lockdown has demonstrated different ways of working. The implementation of social distancing has shown the benefits of staff working from home by using online video conferencing Platforms such as Zoom and Google Teams.
“I never thought we could have those meetings using computers or tablets and going on Teams. Actually it works better in some ways. People stick to the point and don’t interrupt and that sort of thing. We’ve got used to it so quickly!”
In the UK a study of adults commissioned by PeopleCert found that almost 40 per cent are considering changing careers, with one in ten attempting to retrain for a completely different job during the coronavirus crisis.
The study also revealed that around 42 per cent are worried that they may not have a position to go back to once the lockdown ends.
Are Consultancy / Self Employment realistic career after coronavirus opportunities For Those Over 50?
Governments all over the world are now starting the process of ending lockdown.
However we are not sure what the world of work will look like as we learn to live with coronavirus.
If you are over 50, the last few months may have seen you furloughed or even laid off. Hopefully this has given you the time to reflect on your goals and what you want in life.
You may feel that you have the skills and experience to either work as a consultant or become self-employed. While both of these options may be viable, we would strongly recommend that you get good professional advice before committing.
If you are currently working from home or self isolating, this might be the ideal time to update your Personal Development Plan and if you have one, your Professional Development Plan.
Conduct a review of areas where you can retrain and ‘upskill’ if you know that there are going to be changes in your job, your career after coronavirus or indeed your life.
Take this interruption in your career to develop new skills, which can help improve your current skills significantly in order to find the next opportunity. Make sure your PDP is revised to reflect this.
Here are 5 recommended skills that will improve your chances when employers begin to hire.
- Artificial intelligence
According to LinkedIn’s online education website, LinkedIn Learning, artificial intelligence is a top hard skill for 2020, adding an extra level of efficiency to the human workforce.
- Problem-solving/Critical thinking
Job seekers who can prove that they are able to think critically and find solutions to business problems will have a much better chance of being hired.
- Data analytics
Data science and machine learning-related jobs, taken together, represent 5 of the top 15 growing jobs in America today.
- Emotional intelligence
This soft skill allows workers to relate to others, recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, and also understand what a company’s clients are going through, making those with high emotional intelligence an asset to employers.
- Digital/Social media marketing
Specialists who are experts in search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), and email campaigns are in high demand. Applicants with marketing and digital skills that can help companies build their brands will be very attractive to employers in the coming years.
Dawn Moss of Your interview coach is an experienced HR and Recruitment professional. She says:
“For some there is a real fear that at 50 plus you’re too old or it’s too late to change careers. There’s a dread of being made redundant and having to look for a new job.
There’s a real concern that you may even experience discrimination because of your age. When you apply for advertised jobs, you never hear back and assume all sorts of reasons for rejection.
It’s likely this fear is holding you back from even attempting to change jobs. I’d be naïve if I said there wasn’t any discrimination in the job market.
It saddens me that there are too many cases of discrimination during the recruitment process. However, most companies truly value a diverse organisation and the benefits it brings.
As if you need any more barriers, perceived or not, it’s becoming more and more apparent that returning back to ‘normal’ after lockdown won’t be happening for a while yet.”
So, how can you adapt to these changing times when you are looking for a job?
One thing that coronavirus covid-19 has confirmed to us all is the power of the internet. Even before lockdown LinkedIn was a powerful tool. Now, it’s an absolute essential tool in your job search.
So, don’t miss out on thousands of opportunities because you think LinkedIn is just like Facebook. More than ever your LinkedIn account needs to be really effective.
Why Is LinkedIn the answer?
It really is the answer to your job searching question! It’s reckoned that a person with a fully optimised Linkedin profile is 40 times more likely to receive job opportunities via Linkedin.
My recommendations would be to focus your time and effort finding and building relationships with recruiters in your sector and industry, recruiters in companies of interest and recruiters in specialist agencies.
I’d also be looking out for job postings on the platform instead of the traditional job boards. I’ll explain later why I wouldn’t be focusing on traditional job boards.
LinkedIn is a great tool to find decision-makers and recruiters (in-house and agency). It’s a great place to find jobs and be both proactive and reactive. For those reasons if I were looking for a job right now, I’d be spending at least 30 minutes per day finding, searching, networking and applying for jobs.
- The best days on the platform are Wednesday and Tuesdays and Thursdays in that order.
- Avoid networking at the weekends, it’s a business platform.
- Avoid Mondays because recruiters are particularly busy planning for the week ahead and Friday afternoons people are winding down for the weekend.
Networking with recruiters:
Make sure your LinkedIn profile is in the best shape it can be. Every section should be completed to ensure it makes a good first impression.
Start off by searching for recruitment agencies in your sector and find the consultants who work there. Search for companies of interest and then find the in-house recruiters to connect with. In-house recruiters usually work in Human Resources (HR) that should help you find them.
Quick Apply:
This function is great and does what it says on the tin! So, again your profile must be set up correctly and more importantly matches the criteria for the job you are ‘quick’ applying for!
Also, make a note of the person posting the job advert and connect. If you connect with anyone always add a customized message and let them know the reasons for connecting.
Traditional job board:
Relying on the job boards has its limitations right now and I’ll explain why. As there are fewer vacancies, recruiters have been and are still spending a lot of their time keeping in touch with their clients and candidates.
They will be spending their time gathering valuable market intelligence. So, they will be maintaining their relationships to ensure they are ready to react when the market starts to pick up.
When the job market starts to pick up again, recruiters will first be searching their own databases and yes, LinkedIn too (the biggest candidate database in the world!).
If they were to advertise jobs right now, they would be inundated with applications. It’s a fact that there are significantly less jobs being posted compared to the same time last year.
This shouldn’t be a surprise given the number of businesses in certain sectors that literally had to close their doors.
Recruitment consultants:
Recruiters right now are networking and maintaining their well-established relationships with their clients (employers and in-house recruiters) and they are staying in touch with the candidates in their networks.
So, that’s why you need to be connecting with recruiters right now. Build those relationships and stay in touch. They will have extremely valuable insights to the job markets and they have good relationships with their clients.
Having these valuable relationships will ensure you are in the front of the queue when opportunities arise. Companies do advertise their jobs on LinkedIn.
However, being on LinkedIn isn’t just about applying for advertised jobs. It’s a great tool to tap into the hidden jobs market.
A high percentage of jobs are normally hidden and I predict that won’t change in the near future. There are enough candidates that have raised their hand to the recruiters (metaphorically speaking) that there will be less need to advertise at the moment.
If you need help with your LinkedIn account, Dawn offers specialist LinkedIn services.
