Human Resource Management Report: Post-Brexit & Covid-19 Strategies

This report delves into the significant impacts of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic on the UK labour market. It examines the emerging changes in labour market conditions, highlighting the challenges faced by companies due to economic shocks, supply chain disruptions, and the scarcity of skilled labour. The report analyzes the changes needed in human resourcing strategies, advocating for the adoption of various approaches like Bargain Labourer, Committed Expert, Loyal Soldier, and Free Agent strategies. It emphasizes the importance of adapting to remote working, expanding contingent worker options, and separating critical skills. Furthermore, the report provides actionable recommendations for HR managers, including reviewing sponsor licenses for EU nationals and addressing the challenges of travel restrictions and health concerns. The report underscores the need for proactive measures to navigate the evolving market landscape and ensure business continuity.

Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Emerging changes in labour market conditions in a post-Covid/post Brexit environment in the
UK..............................................................................................................................................4
Changes needed in human resourcing strategies........................................................................6
Changes and methods of implementation as an HR manager....................................................7
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................10
References:...............................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
Covid-19 and Brexit are both the factors that have led to complete shocks in the UK markets.
Many companies have lost their efficient employees and even their position in the market.
The financial shock faced by the companies has led to a negative impact on their ability to
control the market. There is no availability of skilled labour in the market due to the issue and
it can be stated that the companies will continue to get impacted if proper strategies are not
developed. An HR manager would need to work on the concept and further start developing
effective strategies to counter the issue. At the initial step, there will be a need of knowing
about the emerging changes in the labour market of the UK AFTER BREXIT AND COVID-
19. Once all the details are gained proper strategies will be developed by the HR managers to
resolve the issue.
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Emerging changes in labour market conditions in a post-Covid/post Brexit environment
in the UK
The Covid-19 Pandemic has completely changed the way in which companies operate and
grow. Due to the restrictions and lockdowns, the labour market has been highly affected by
the pandemic. People have lost their jobs, and many have been infected by the virus. Plenty
of companies has been shut down which has affected the jobs in a severe way. On the other
hand, Brexit has also led to many problems in the supply chain and operations. Among such
conditions tackling both situations are a major challenge for the companies (Brooks, et al.,
2021). The inter connected economic shocks have affected the way in which people leave.
The market operations have also been affected in a negative way. There were many
businesses that were looking for growth but couldn’t expand due to economic issues. The UK
and the European economies need to make an uncertain recovery from the conditions. Many
of the impacts can be seen to be temporary but there will be many challenges that will affect
the market in long term. The long-term socio-economic impacts can prove to be lethal for the
companies operating in the UK and Europe. The impacts can be majorly seen in the supply
chains as well as the way in which companies operate (De Lyon and Dhingra, 2021).
The changes which are happening due to Brexit are mostly predictable, but the changes of
Covid-19 are completely unpredictable. The impact of Covid-19 on the demand and growth
of the companies is larger than Brexit. The interaction of the companies mostly on the supply
side can be seen to be complicated. There are different ways in which the supply chain will
be impacted. There has been a record of 1.2 million job vacancies observed by November
2021. Most of the companies were not able to fulfil the market demands due to a shortage in
labour during the pandemic. By September 2021, the employment level fell by 1.4% which is
466,000 posts (Chadha, 2021). This was largely driven by the young workers and the starting
occupations. At many levels of age, the level of employment fell drastically due to the health
impacts. The companies are struggling to fill the posts due to the increased demand for
workers. Due to the pandemic, many people have started options of working from home. This
has affected the efficiency of employees and left the companies with the incapability of hiring
better people (Heald and Hodges, 2020).
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(Figure 1: Covid-19/Brexit economic impact heatmap)
(Source: Deloitte, 2020)
The image above shows the heatmap of the impact caused by Covid-19 and Brexit. In the
image, it can be observed that the two shocks had different levels of impact on various
sectors. The impact has forced the labour industry to operate in a proper way and grow in the
market. If the trends continue to leave a negative impact it will become harder for the
companies to get back from the shocks. The impact can be long-term as the supply chain and
organizations both are deeply impacted.
Due to Brexit the biggest challenge for the businesses is of tariff uncertainty. As 53% of the
UK assembled car gets exported and 69% of the UK built components are exported to EU.
On these exports, a tariff of 10% is observed which would cost £1.8 billion to the UK
exporters. This would be a major amount and will affect the companies. This shows that the
emerging changes will not be positive for the UK. Even if a tariff agreement is agreed upon
between both the countries there would be complex regulations observed by the automotive
companies (Smith, 2021). The market is changing and so is the type of automotive. As there
are trends in electric cars higher charges are observed while importing car parts from
different companies. As the parts will be imported from different countries this will lead to
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super-high prices for the completed cars. This shows that Covid-19 and Brexit will make the
biggest impact on the supply chain segment of the companies. The automotive sector will be
hit in a severe manner due to Covid-19 and Brexit. The labour markets will completely
observe a significant fall due to the market conditions.
The level of unemployment in the market is observed after the pandemic. If the situation
continues to increase it will be a major negative factor for the companies. The prices of
labour are also increased which will again affect the market. All such factors will lead to
higher manufacturing costs and will ultimately impact the pockets of end customers. After
Brexit, an end is also observed in the free movement of people from the UK to the EU. This
will affect the ability of people to work freely and grow the industries. Even in the Covid-19
situation, it can’t be predicted when the lockdowns are imposed again (Morphet, 2021).
These would again lead to higher regulations and impact the ability of people to work.
In the case of Brexit, the people who had agreed to get shifted from the UK to the EU will be
able to do it only partially. There has been a shift in more people working from home due to
Covid-19. In this way, they are able to provide their services virtually. This would lead to the
higher challenges in terms of continuity of services. After the restrictions of lockdown are
completely lifted there would be a chance that virtual services are no longer needed by the
companies. This will again affect the labour market in terms of providing quality services.
The immigration system after Brexit is also complicated and strict which will again affect the
people in shifting their workplaces. Many of the skilled workers from the companies will be
impacted in terms of providing their services (Mayhew, 2022). Even the transport operators
are facing the challenges of commuting people in a safer manner. As the virus is still
spreading it has become difficult to reach out to the people and start working from offices.
Thus, it can be stated that the emerging challenges of post-Covid-19 and Brexit are having
significant impacts on the economy and labour market of the UK.
Changes needed in human resourcing strategies
Analysing the current scenario of the market has provided plenty of information regarding the
impact of Brexit and Covid-19. Based on the analysis, there is a need to change human
resource strategies so that the labour market can be upscaled. There is a need of using various
labour market enforcing strategies to deal with the issues and grow the market. There would
be plenty of potential risks observed in the market in the new normal that can lead to labour
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exploitation. New human resourcing strategies can be developed for aligning the human
resource capital with the business activities (Dayan, et al., 2020). There are various human
resource strategies that can be used in the situation among which the most suitable would be
Bargain labourer (cost leadership/external labour), Committed expert (differentiation/internal
labour), Loyal soldier (cost leadership/internal labour), and free agent
(differentiation/external labour).
All the strategies have their own importance and can be useful in enhancing the situation
which is being affected due to the pandemic and Brexit. Based on the various factors it can be
stated that the companies need to develop better plans where the labour market could be
improved. The process would be long term and will require heavy expenses for the
companies to train and operate the employees. The additional costs will again affect the
operations and ability of the employees to work (Sampson, 2020). In the situation of Covid-
19 lockdowns are observed frequently and no relaxations can be expected till the virus is
completely wiped out. Even in the post-covid era people would fear going to offices which is
a major issue. People are now preferring to work from the comfort and safety of their homes.
This has affected the labour markets and the profits of the companies.
The skills of employees are diminished which again leads to a low-quality workforce. Even
in the case of Brexit, the free travel of people in both countries is restricted. If people want to
work in the same company, then they would need to shift to that specific country. This will
again lead to higher costs faced by employees. Only very few of the employees will agree to
shift their locations to work rest of them would simply option to work from home or change
their companies. This is a negative factor for the companies as they are losing their quality
employees. In long term, this would be a major challenge for the HR and other segments of
the companies (Daly and Lawless, 2020). In such conditions, it is important to make changes
in human resource strategies. The biggest change expected in the market after Covid-19 and
Brexit are of increasing the remote working and contingent worker expansion. In the long
term, this will help the companies in planning themselves for future market conditions. If
similar situations are faced by the companies in future, then they can perform in an effective
way by using the strategies. It is necessary to separate the critical skills as well as roles of the
employees. This will be beneficial for balancing the market conditions after the pandemic and
Brexit.
Changes and methods of implementation as an HR manager
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For the labour market of the UK, the slack labour market can be useful. Due to Brexit and
Covid-19, unemployment is expected to be increased in a sharp manner. This would highly
impact the spending of the customers and also threaten the demands. In many of the sectors,
the decisions related to labour and supply chain would get complex. The long restrictions due
to Covid and loss of jobs due to Brexit will be affecting the market. The price sector where
labour issues will be faced incorporates tourism, hospitality, travel, and others. As these
sectors have seen a quick drop in the number of customers, they will also face issues in
getting quality labour. Travel restrictions and health concerns can further affect the ability of
the companies to hire quality employees. It has already become harder to source the
employees as most of them are preferring work from the home condition (Mircheva, 2020).
As an HR manager, it can be recommended that there is a need of reviewing the EU nationals
that are presently holding the sponsor license. This will help the company in making sure
they are able to co-ordinate with the employees regarding their jobs. In the context of Brexit,
the companies should review the number of EU nationals who have been flying into the UK
or vice versa. This would be beneficial in compiling the requirements required by employees
in working after Brexit. There is a need of ensuring the number of travel policies is updated
and communicated with the assistance of employees. All the employees would need to make
sure their systems are in place for determining the required visa (Bhattacharjee and
Lisauskaite, 2020).
The companies should also develop a department that takes responsibility for managing the
visa applications. It would be necessary to provide proper training to the respective
department regarding visa applications. It is also necessary to adjust the cost estimates for
making sure the travels are budgeted in a proper manner. Reviewing the timeframes of
permits will also allow for getting project details. It is necessary to carry out a strategic
review on delivering the work. Due to the pandemic and Brexit, the business leaders have to
go through financial shocks (Meuwissen, et al., 2021). The shocks are leading to fewer
finances for the company to pay its labour. Due to the smaller number of finances the
company is not able to attract better employees. For labour, the companies need to initially
develop a crisis response platform. In the response team, the HR team will need to be at the
centre. As the progress would be done against all the responses of efforts there would be a
need of turning the response on recovery phases.
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At the initial stage, the HR department will need to work on workforce strategies. The five
critical factors where the HR team would need to work will be reflecting, recommitting, re-
engaging, rethinking and rebooting. All these actions can be useful in developing strategies to
respond to the labour crisis. For the workforce, there will be a need for planning strategies,
benefit plans, workforce experience, leadership, and talent processes (Rakha, et al., 2021).
Towards the labour, the companies need to analyse the external and internal environmental
factors. After knowing the internal and external factors which are affecting the company there
would be a need of communicating with the workforce. With proper communication, the
companies will be able to understand the situation of labour (Crowley, et al., 2019). After
communication, there would be a need of planning the nature of work that will be further
performed after the pandemic and Brexit. The structure will need a certain amount of change
which will further assist the company in collaboration with labour and implementing the
changes for efficient operations.
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Conclusion:
In a nutshell, the post-Covid and Brexit era is a difficult situation for people and businesses to
survive. Plenty of issues could be faced when it comes to finding the right skilled labour or
developing proper policies. Many people are preferring work from home situations which
would further lead to the unavailability of skilled labours. It is also a major challenge for the
companies to ensure a safe environment for working the employees. The HRs of the
companies will need to first identify the external and internal challenges which can affect the
business. Once the situation is cleared there will be a need of communicating with the
employees and understand their situations. Further, the companies can make changes in their
structure and even offerings so that they can attract better labours. This will help in making
sure the company gets skilled employees which will balance the situation after Covid-19 and
Brexit.
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References:
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from the Covid-19 crisis. National Institute Economic Review, 254, pp.F27-F28.
Brooks, C., Parr, L., Smith, J.M., Buchanan, D., Snioch, D. and Hebishy, E., 2021. A review
of food fraud and food authenticity across the food supply chain, with an examination of the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit on food industry. Food Control, 130,
p.108171.
Chadha, J.S., 2021. Commentary: Whither after Covid-19 and Brexit: A social science
perspective. National Institute Economic Review, 255, pp.1-8.
Crowley, M., Exton, O. and Han, L., 2019. The impact of Brexit uncertainty on UK
exports. London: VOX.
Daly, L. and Lawless, M., 2020. Examination of the sectoral overlap of COVID-19 and
Brexit shocks (No. 677). ESRI Working Paper.
Dayan, M., Fahy, N., Hervey, T., McCarey, M., Jarman, H. and Greer, S., 2020.
Understanding the impact of Brexit on health in the UK. London: Nuffield Trust.
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https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/international-markets/
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Termeer, K.J., Poortvliet, P.M., Peneva, M. and Urquhart, J., 2021. Impact of Covid-19 on
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farming systems in Europe through the lens of resilience thinking. Agricultural Systems, 191,
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Economics, 64(3), pp.352-368.
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