As can be predicted of any country getting through a recession, with job cuts, the lowest income group and unskilled labour were the first to get hit. People were losing their jobs on all sides, with two major groups of people finding it tough to keep up with the economic changes. The youngest people, just getting into the workforce and the oldest, who could not adapt to the changes that were taking place throughout the UK. Furthermore, the largest part of the workforce, within the age group, was working at jobs that were the hardest hit during the pandemic.
Some of the changes taking place were remote working, which was new for a lot of the well-established companies, with concrete processes, but was something that startups were working on for some time. While remote working was becoming a trend, many companies were complaining that it is bringing down the productivity of the company, but they did not have a choice.
On the flip side, not all companies could get their work done remotely, since there were some jobs like construction, hospitality, healthcare and many others, that were done in person. While they were moving aspects of their job online, there were aspects that they had to get done in person.
There were smaller startups that had been remote working for some time, and they were getting the results that they wanted. Furthermore, companies and offices could not have the same number of people within the enclosed space that was their office anymore since they had to maintain social distance. Changes like these meant that people had to take turns coming into the office, and they would only do that if they had to.
Another change that was taking place not only around the UK but the world was the way companies were communicating. Video and regular calls and using messages were the new norms. People were averse to meeting in person with the virus making the rounds so they could communicate remotely. Important client meetings were conducted in person in the past, but no more. People within companies were now coordinating all their meetings remotely through
Zoom, Skype and other platforms. They were using these platforms for internal as well as client calls.
With companies and their internal teams not getting a chance to meet the people they are hiring, in person before they join the fold, it made sense that employers started pushing for changes to the way that they were handling the hiring process. They were going through background checks on people they were hiring and in many cases were already a part of the team. They were getting through these tests through the DBS Check, which was a test that they could handle online.
Only employers could go through the test if they were going through the background check for not just employees but prospective employees as well. The basic version of the test was called the CRB check, and was later updated to the DBS test can even be used if there is more information needed to get through the process.