For the past 20 years, hospitality recruitment has been my life. My focus has always been on forming meaningful and lasting relationships with colleagues, clients and candidates as I managed a busy hospitality staffing agency.

Then came the dreaded Covid-19! It has had an unprecedented impact all around the world – affecting all of us. We were suddenly told to stay away from each other for survival and as life changed inexorably, we had to find innovative ways to stay connected and earn a living.

We struggled with self-isolation. But as a new wave of social responsibility became lore, I watched with admiration as the more resilient businesses tried to re-invent themselves.

Covid-19’s impact on the hospitality industry was devastating. Business operators were forced to adapt, merely to survive – aggressively maximising cash flow and reducing labour costs while trying to maintain staff numbers and supplier relationships to support an eventual comeback.

As venues reduced headcount, casual workers were the first to lose their jobs finding a safety net in JobKeeper if they were lucky, JobSeeker if they weren’t or if from overseas, with no income at all!

Seeking a fresh start, I recently joined the incredible team at Hastings to launch their Temp Staffing Division. This allowed me to maintain conversations with clients and meet many candidates – trying to find new ways to make an impact during this recovery.

These conversations and my experience have helped me provide clients with access to a casual workforce in the interim as demand gradually rebuilds. As operators continue to seek ways to recover from Covid-19, more are turning to Temp agencies to increase flexibility while controlling costs. It is a sound strategy for remaining competitive in this rapidly changing climate.

We wanted to offer supportive staffing solutions backed by our deep industry knowledge. We’re now delivering a simple streamlined process with a database of specialised staff who are compliant, reference checked and supported by our payroll management service. By outsourcing staff, businesses can focus on what they do best, eliminating the costs and risks of layoffs, turnover and re-hiring.

We have observed that there are a lot of people out there looking for work. Over the past few weeks, I have been able to recruit some premium, professional and passionate staff (who wouldn’t have been in the job market pre-Covid) to join our casual pool. And it continues to grow – ready, willing and able to meet the needs of recovering hospitality operators.