Workplace Management Lessons on Employee Recruitment Challenges, Furloughs, and Layoffs during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The required quarantine and closure of thousands of public and private sector workplaces due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has changed jobs and life for millions of people around the globe due to layoffs and furloughs, along with certain management practices and strategies to keep workers coming to work and keeping them safe. Because of the required quarantine mandates, two years after the start of the pandemic, some departments and organizations are still having to close parts of their operations and facilities as they cannot find enough employees to keep up with the growing trends. Initially, in 2020, many organizations were laying off thousands of workers to prevent companies from going bankrupt. While some firms and managers terminated or laid off their employees through a very socially responsible or ethical means, others were not able to be as sensitive and, thus, are now suffering more from the shortage of experienced talent. Consequently, this article discusses some of the employee recruitment and retention challenges stemming from Covid-19 coronavirus and how managers and human resources professionals have learned to adjust their management practices to ethically and equitably lay off employees in the future, so that they can eventually attract, recruit, hire, develop, and retain dedicated workers once growth possibilities are available again.