COVID-19 brought about many changes to businesses and other forms of enterprise throughout the country. The UK imposed national level lockdowns throughout the pandemic since they saw an increase in the number of cases throughout the country. The authorities also implemented rules like wearing masks in public, maintaining social distance, using hand-sanitizers as often as possible and many others to prevent the spread of the virus. After the first lockdown, they learned that shutting down businesses was not ideal since it was taking a massive toll on the economy, and most of the smaller companies were suffering and had to lay off large numbers of their staff.
Seeing that the lockdowns lead to large scale unemployment in the UK, the Government implemented various schemes that companies and businesses could avail of to reduce the number of people who were losing their jobs. They created schemes like the furlough scheme wherein the Government would pay a large percentage of the salaries of employees, allowing companies to reduce the load that they had to bear, especially when it was challenging for them to meet their targets and benchmarks. Another massive change was companies getting their staff to remote work, which was a change that could not be implemented by all but a large number of them got on board.
Companies and businesses that were a lot more hands-on like the hospitality industry, mechanical work, and regular home-based services like carpentry, electrical work or plumbing could not just take the jump since they had to take place in person. However, even those companies were working on getting smaller aspects of their work online. There were multiple studies about remote working that stated that it significantly drops productivity with the highest majority of people working from home. They usually ended up coordinating multiple errands, processes, and chores which would keep coming in the way. The only advantage was the time saved commuting through traffic.
There were multiple changes in the law as well when it came to the functioning of companies.
People were working on adapting to these changes since an event of the scale and spread of the Coronavirus was not something seen in the past. With the number of people sick and the random spikes in the number of COVID-19 cases, the hospitals and healthcare system in the country were quite overwhelmed. There were people in the UK who were not receiving medical attention if their condition or issue was not a priority.
The unemployment rate in the country began increasing since many people without jobs were not looking to get back to work until the economy was a little more stable. There were others not planning on taking any chances with the virus still spreading and preferred waiting for some version of a cure. Many smaller businesses and companies, including self-owned restaurants, were open to hiring people but were not sure how they would adjust with the regular opening and closing of the markets. The lockdowns were a massive hit to businesses but seen as the only way to reduce the spread of the virus. The Government even implemented stricter rules as they went through the pandemic, to prevent the further spread instead of shutting down the country again.
They implemented a rule of six, which was a more significant rule to make sure that people were not gathering in groups of more than six. The purpose was to prevent the spread of the virus in larger numbers and crowded places. Unfortunately, the rule was also taking a toll on establishments like restaurants and pubs since they could not interact with a larger number of people. While there were long queues at the unemployment office, they did make arrangements for people with disabilities so they would not have to spend too much time waiting in those lines. Most public establishments had to make sure they were sanitized and kept clean throughout the process, which was another requirement as well.
During the national lockdowns and other changes that were taking place, they had to make sure that the essential services were still running. While they were running, they were also severely overburdened with a lot of paperwork and other challenges that they had to handle.
While the UK, like most other countries were slowly lifting restrictions and implementing stricter measures to keep people safe, companies were not sure about the hiring processes. With the large scale unemployment across the country, companies were finding it difficult to work with people or get through the hiring process. They had to make sure that the people they were working with could be trusted and would be a good fit for their company or their team.
Another trend that was getting popular during the pandemic were background checks.
Employers were conducting background checks to make sure the people they were working with did not have a criminal record. Some of the positions and job descriptions that they were hiring for, needed specific information about the applicant, so they were sure they were picking the right people. Most jobs now asked for a background check certificate that was provided by the applicant when they were getting through the process. Applicants could choose not to provide one, but they might find it challenging to get through.
Some jobs needed a more detailed background check which they could ideally coordinate with various other departments like the police department. For instance, working in the medical field had new rules about fast-tracking their background checks, but they had to provide them all the same.
People can conduct a thorough background check through the ACRO and the police check in the UK. The paperwork and certificate that applicants receive when they get through with the process can even be used when applying for a visa. The checks gather information about people within the UK, making them a requirement even if they are applying for foreign documents from within the county.