When the first case of coronavirus occurred in Wuhan, China, little did we realize a job crisis will be in the picture soon. Even before the pandemic, India was going through economic hardships. The unemployment rate was at the highest for the past four decades. The key indicators were signaling a prolonged slowdown. In fact, since mid-2019, companies were laying off their employees. COVID-19 toppled the slow growth trajectory that we had.
CMIE Report
All these existing economic problems increased after the lockdown. The pandemic has worsened the economic woes of the country. It has crushed the dreams of middle-class people. According to a CMIE report, it has affected the entire household income spectrum. Middle and upper-middle classes are worst affected by the pandemic.
B2Bs
Consumers have started to adjust to life amidst the lockdown. But, B2Bs are trying to figure out a way to operate and recover. For this, they are working on a complete digital change. The sales and marketing departments are the ones that are going through the most changes.
Impact of COVID 19 Pandemic
It is important to note that the impact of pandemic differs by sector. Also, the tourism industry had a major disturbance in their services. Other hard-hit B2B segments are education, personal services, and wholesome. Some B2B sectors have experienced minimal impact as compared to others. Examples of this include energy, utilities, financial services, and IT.
Fitness, aviation, hospitality, and all other sectors are having a difficult situation. The number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase in the country. This has created uncertainty and weakened the economic situation in the country. To deal with this, businesses are moving with caution and witnessing a wave of job crisis. For instance, Swiggy laid off more than 350 employees in July. This comes after they had fired over 1100 employees in May. Curefit, a health and fitness company, has also had a second round of layoffs. They had also laid off more than 900 people in May.
Another sector that has been affected because of the pandemic is aviation. Air India has been slashing the salaries of its employees. Also, they are extending leave without pay. IndiGo laid off about 2300 people and made deeper pay cuts.
Most of the companies have provided work from home options for their employees. There are several economic challenges ahead of us. Also, we don’t know how many of these recent changes to business and everyday life will become permanent.
No Answer For Timeline Recovery
There is no answer or even a timeline for recovery from this job crisis. What companies need to do is change their organization as per the rapidly-changing conditions. They also need employees who can match those new activities and roles. This new dynamic is more than just remote working, automation, and AI. It is about how you can get your workforce to upskill and reskill for delivering new business models after the pandemic.
In order to deal with this job crisis, people need to create a talent strategy for themselves and develop their cognitive and digital capabilities. They also have to work on their emotional skills, social skill, resilience, and adaptability. When you develop this muscle, it will strengthen your skillset and candidature for any opening in the job market. And the best way for you to do that is through online courses. Enroll through the best online courses and prepare yourself for fighting against the prevailing job crisis.