With the embers of COVID-19 still burning bright and a highly strained geopolitical situation, the business environment is a highly unstable one for employees and for employers. The best advice to anyone wishing to shift jobs is to hold on to the current position. If that is not feasible, make sure you are able to sustain yourself financially, as there is no guarantee the probation period in the new position would be successful. In some cases, it might have nothing to do with your performance or personality – such is the volatile nature of the market that the new employer might not be able to guarantee the offered position for long.

Alissa Paillé

Another dismal truth is that salary levels are still way below those that were offered a few years ago. We are still quite a way away from a true recovery, at least in the Middle East market, and it is too early to predict for how long oil prices would increase owing to the current crisis in Europe.

So, hang in there, and try to do your utmost to consolidate and secure your position. And do pay heed to trends.

A key trend is towards acquiring multidisciplinary skills. More than ever before, employers are asking candidates to be skillful in more than one discipline. For instance, traditional engineers with sales skills would be at a distinct advantage. The message is loud and clear – do not be content with your existing skillset; instead, you might want to consider learning new skills in your existing role, as you never know when they might be in demand.

As for employers, given the fact that the market is still in recovery mode, I would encourage you to start the recruitment process only once you see confirmed order books increasing to a level that the existing workforce cannot fulfil them, as opposed to taking human resources on board on the basis of trends or sentiments of a recovery.

I would like to underscore this point, as I have seen many companies making the mistake of recruiting people, only to lay them off a few months later, because the project they were banking their hopes on did not come to fruition, or because they had the representation agency cancelled in a certain territory for which they were recruiting.

I ask you to pay heed to this, because recruitment is an extremely sensitive process and, if not handled carefully, will lead to the company’s reputation being downgraded in the job market, as word travels fast amongst candidates on which companies are reliable and which are not. As the adage goes, do not bite more than you can chew, and hold on to what you have.

Hope to meet you again, in June!

Alissa Paillé is the Founder and CEO of careersbay.com, a headhunting and recruitment agency specialising on the HVACR industry. She writes an exclusive bi-monthly column for Climate Control Middle East, and can be reached at alissa@careersbay.com.