What happens after a recession?
It’s been exactly two years since the Credit Crunch began to cause turmoil to financial markets and, in turn, the global economy. Whilst no-one really predicted the scale of this downturn and it’s still early days to say we’re out of the woods yet, there are further positive signals to be heard. For example, figures from the US released last week showed a less than expected decline in growth. With the US economy still being the barometer for all others to follow, could we be seeing the recession (as per definition) coming to an end?
So this does raise the question of what happens when the recession is officially classed as over? Are people going to pick up the national newspapers with the “Recession is Over!” headlines and decide to book themselves a luxury holiday? Probably not, but there may well be a psychological boost in knowing that the worst has passed.
How are business owners going to react? Many would have been running firms, which as a result of the recession have had to become more streamlined in order to sustain their existence. Business models may have had to be changed to adapt to their respective market. Has the credit crunch been a lesson in business you never expected to take? I can raise my hand and say it has!
Following these lessons, where does this leave an organisations’ workforce? In many cases, shedding staff doesn’t mean their tasks completely disappear. More responsibility and workload gets spread around less people. Post-recession, will employees still be as willing to take on more work without the extra perks? Sooner or later, as growth comes back to the markets, companies will begin to recognise that the time has come to hire new recruits.
My thoughts are that initially these vacancies will be for roles that have a specific need and would bolster the existing workforce. Maybe when growth is more prominent, we would see further opportunities arise which would allow companies to capitalise on this. Either way, timing is crucial and being able to keep ahead of the competition is a key factor. Probably some of the few things to not have changed in the last two years!
