The event and hospitality industries were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic as thousands of professionals suddenly found themselves unable to do their jobs. Many were laid off or furloughed and took the opportunity to reinvent themselves and pivot their careers.
The jobs that were available were often very different from traditional event planning roles, as video production and technical skills were in high demand. Two years later, the industry is still recovering from and adapting to these developments.
“There is part our industry who have found alternative careers and are quite comfortable staying in those alternative careers, so we've had a bit of a talent drain as an industry from that respect,” says Tim Collett, Managing Director and Global Head of Events at WRG, which, like many event companies, lost talent early on but was also able to grow the virtual events side of its business during the pandemic.
“The creative people who were willing to understand that this is going to be a different job market for a while, and a different job in general, were actually able to find a lot of success,” adds Aaron Kaufman, President at Fifth Element Group Inc. “The people who were incredibly rigid in their roles, many of those people left the industry and pursued different paths. And it probably wasn't a bad thing for the industry.”
When it comes to finding talent in this new job market and event environment, both Collett and Kaufman note that keeping an open mind is important, and that the right hire is not necessarily the person with a background and training in events.
“When we hire here, there is nothing that sets a precedent for me that I should hire somebody that has event experience or has gone to event school. There's no proof, no data that says that that's a better decision,” says Kaufman. “We're looking to create new revenue streams, and we're looking at data as a key indicator of some of the things that we should be looking at over the next 24 to 36 months. I don't think hiring specific event professionals for work that we were doing before the pandemic makes sense.”
At this point in time, event companies have a chance to rethink their strategy and hiring process instead of trying to simply “rehire for roles so that they can go back to their blueprint,” he adds. “I do think that the industry needs some sort of reset. A lot of people that are coming to me are familiar with my work from two and a half years ago, but are they the right fit for my strategy for 2022 and going forward? I don't want to hire people who expect to come into a job and follow an antiquated blueprint. That isn't future centric, and that's not what I'm looking for.”
Collett shares that WRG has also been keeping an open mind when it comes to hiring and looking for talent in less traditional places. “We’ve not been the most diverse industry, and I think we have an opportunity with the rebirth of our industry to encourage people from other industries to come and join us,” he says.
“It may be people with more experience in separate or complementary industries. It may be people from different backgrounds and different circumstances. It's about making sure that we're being as conscious and as open as possible in our recruiting practices. What we look for is whether there is there an inherent talent, aptitude and ability in these individuals that we can nurture and develop throughout their careers.”
A big part of continuing to reinvigorate the talent pool in the events industry will involve looking towards the next generation. Collett notes that there is currently a lack of people with entry-level experience in events since many companies were not in a position to hire in 2020 or even in 2021. “I'm really concerned about how much we've invested in the next generation of talent,” he says.
Moving forward, the industry as a whole will need to make sure it is welcoming in fresh blood and encouraging new recruits, and in order to do so, event roles need to be seen as a viable career path, even — and perhaps especially — for those who did not specifically attend event programs.
“We don't want to be coming across as an unstable industry or an unstable job,” notes Collett. “We need to make sure that we put ourselves forward in the best possible light as an industry to show that we are viable and meaningful career to college graduates or whomever may want to come and join us, because it's a great career. And we also want to make sure that we've got people from all backgrounds coming into our industry.”
As part of this process, Kaufman also recommends hiring interns — and, importantly, paying them a fair wage — which is a great way to fuel creativity and grow event teams. “Use the opportunity to work with interns, to scale your business, and to see if they fit into your culture and your plans, and be willing to teach,” he says. “Give them the opportunity to try new things with your company. I think a reason why we don't get a lot of young, exceptional talent is because people are too stuck in their blueprints.”
The road to recovery is still ongoing, and the event and hospitality sectors continue to struggle with low staffing numbers in a number of areas. “I don't underestimate the task of restarting this industry at all,” says Collett. “It's going to be a huge task for us all over the next two years or so as we start to get back on our feet.”
Now is the time for organizations to rethink their hiring practices, diversify their talent pools, and prepare for the future.