A Harrogate recruitment agency has said it is struggling to fill positions with new workers following the recent ease in covid restrictions.
Travail Employment Group in Harrogate said it has plenty of jobs available but is unable to find the people to fill them.
It has seen a change in employment trends post-pandemic, going from some of the busiest months ever for recruitment to having more vacancies than they can fill.
Lisa Headford, branch manager at Harrogate Travail Employment Group, said:
“We’ve found that now we could grow further if we had more candidates. We have a lot of vacancies we are struggling to fill.
“I think the pandemic has definitely shaken things up for recruitment. We have plenty of jobs available so no one should be out of work.
“There are lots of reasons why, but everyone is struggling to recruit.”
Two Harrogate companies have also said they have experienced similar difficulties in finding new staff.
The companies have both advertised for a number of jobs but only received a small number of applicants.
Cleaning company It’s Clean received a huge increase in applicants during lockdown, with many people on furlough eager to pick up hours elsewhere.
Recruitment manager Louise Brear said now she was struggling to fill positions:
“Over the last couple of weeks I’ve advertised lots of jobs and had nothing. I’m not sure if it’s because people came to us from hospitality over lockdown and are now heading back.
“We had so many applicants during furlough and now it’s completely stopped. We have more customers now too so we need more cleaners.”
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It was a similar story for The Wild Plum in Harrogate, which has been looking for a new supervisor and chef for around a month.
The chef role has now been filled and interviews organised for the supervisor position, but the cafe’s general manager Rachel Atkinson said it had been a “struggle”.
She said:
“We did struggle, it was a bit of a nightmare actually. I know of other people who also struggled to fill jobs. We have someone coming in to be interviewed so hopefully it is successful.”
Ms Atkinson thought the reason for their difficulties may have been due to people changing careers during lockdown.
Both businesses were hopeful they would find recruits, but said they had not experienced issues like this before.