The Commerce and Industry team at Oakleaf seem to have experienced a tale of two halves. The most impacted sectors have been our consumer team with most retailers closing their doors, taking advantage of the governments furlough scheme very early on, this was closely followed by those in the events and media sectors. Whilst it would be unfair to say that technology, e-commerce and network industries have been unaffected, those that have been able to demonstrate agility have been able to see a positive commercial impact, some even seen a boom (i.e. Tiktok, Netflix).
Our interim practice has been mainly focused on extensions or temp to perm options across recruitment, HR ops, and Senior generalist roles with a significant decline in projects, including restructures. The general feeling is that this will be almost phase two once we have the end of the current furlough period and businesses have to ‘rebuild’ their structures with a full work force. Whilst the delay to IR35 has been welcomed across the industry we feel that the real impact has been small, due to it being left too late and organisations opting for the FTC option or PAYE.
Amy Morris, Partner