It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to Mandy Watson, Managing Director of Ambitions Personnel.
2022 was an especially volatile year, both politically and economically, so I think we can all agree that we’re hoping for a much calmer start to 2023! The new year brings an opportunity for a fresh start, and it’s one that we’re looking forward to.
The predicted recession generally leads people to stay where they are and ride out the storm as new roles become less available. We saw many move around this year once the pandemic subsided, and fewer restrictions opened up new roles and opportunities. We might not be seeing this trend return for a few years yet.
Lingering over the whole industry is the national skills shortage. There aren’t many industries left untouched by the shortage, with the ONS predicting more than 1.2 million unfilled vacancies. With fewer migrants, more young people in further education and some still choosing an earlier retirement, we’re seeing fewer people in work than before the pandemic.
I remain optimistic about the coming year but acknowledge that a lack of skilled and unskilled workers will make recruitment agencies work harder to find candidates, and some may fall over.
Sadly, I do not believe face-to-face recruitment will return as the norm as it’s a digital world and the pandemic certainly accelerated the introduction of online interviewing. Despite the majority of recruitment taking place online, we still prefer a high-street presence. Nothing can beat the personal touch that meeting candidates face-to-face can bring, and we’ve always enjoyed the relationships we build and the friends we make along the way.
Despite all the coming challenges, we’re expanding our presence further across the East with a signature new office in Hull.
One final note: In 2022, we were finally able to begin celebrating our 30th anniversary. 1990 feels like a lifetime ago, but Ambitions Personnel has now been a constant in Lincolnshire for nearly 33 years! Despite having to push back the celebrations due to COVID, we’re proud to have committed to 30 acts of kindness to celebrate those 30(+3!) years in business. So far, for #30ForThirty, we’ve scaled the Yorkshire Three Peaks, donated underwear and raised thousands for various charities. We can’t wait to finish our final acts in 2023, and I’d like to thank all of our friends and partners who have supported us so far!
I’m looking forward to seeing where we go next, and with another grandchild arriving in June, it’s already looking like a great year.
