When we ran a poll in June, a month after the housing market had reopened after lockdown, we found that just under half of respondent’s branches were fully open and that just under 10% remained closed.
Yesterday we asked the same questions and the responses show that now, two-thirds of branches are fully open.
Slightly surprising is the finding that nearly 7% of branches are still closed. Perhaps this is something to do with permanent closures as firms change their business model and retreat from high street premises?
In the light of almost daily news that yet another firm is making redundancies it comes as no surprise to find that whilst an increased majority of people feel secure in their jobs, there is a significant rise in the proportion who now feel very concerned about their job security.
Of course we accept that this is simply an unscientific straw poll but in respect of job security, assuming most responses are from employees, employers should pay close attention to how their staff may be feeling about the security of their jobs.
We have published stories in recent weeks that highlight the differences in how firms communicate with, and treat, their staff – it ranges from very poor to excellent.
Good communication and as much transparency as possible might help allay the concerns of a significant proportion of the industry’s staff.
Unscientific straw poll or not then everyone is right to feel concerned about job security. The end of furlough is approaching rapidly over the horizon and the impact this will have on the house-buying public is predictable, but not certain. Our market place is currently very busy, but will this suddenly end? Will we be adding numbers to redundancy counts? If the employee respondents to the poll are concerned then how do their employers feel?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
What happens when the pre-covid property stock is all sold? New stock will have a premium due to shortage – potential stand off as buyers are looking for a deal as they feel after furlough, brexit and potential 2nd spike there will be a down turn.
Interesting market – stay focused
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register