New recruits and young employees may need more help to develop their social skills due to Covid but have “potential”, a recruitment webinar has been told.
Claire Steiner, co-founder of the Future You Foundation, told the C&M Travel Recruitment webinar Travel Employers in 2023 that many young recruits lacked confidence and interpersonal skills as a result of being forced to study remotely during the Covid pandemic.
She admitted these were “key skills” needed in the sector, but urged employers to look beyond the immediate skills gap and have faith in the next generation.
She said: “In the pandemic an awful lot of people were working behind screens to do their coursework and they are struggling with social interaction. You really get a sense some are just not confident about getting out there but you know they have potential.
“You need to see beyond that in my opinion. We really need to understand the nuances and challenges this generation has. A lot of people became introverted and have struggled to get out there.”
C&M Travel Recruitment managing director Barbara Kolosinska said she was concerned remote working would further affect new recruits’ ability to develop their social skills.
She admitted candidates had become fussier, with more requests for remote or hybrid workplaces, but stressed the need for the industry to support young new recruits.
“If they are very new and young to the industry we need to develop these people to be good at networking and social skills,” she said, noting: “That’s my concern. If they are not with their teams as much as pre pandemic [due to remote working] how are their social skills going to develop?”