Your Chamber Council: Jim Wylie

YOUR CHAMBER COUNCIL: JIM WYLIE

PROVIDING A SYMPATHETIC EAR AND PRACTICAL HELP TO LOCAL BUSINESSES

Scottish-born recruitment specialist Jim Wylie, who joined Fingal Chamber’s Council in December 2019, arrived in Ireland 20 years ago. “Apart from family holidays years before that we’d had no real connection with the country,” he says. “My wife was headhunted for a senior HR position in Dublin and I initially joined a small recruitment firm here. I then went on to gain valuable experience in the recruitment industry in Ireland over the last 20 years before joining Osborne Recruitment, where I’m a Senior Commercial Development Manager.”

As part of the recruitment firm’s senior leadership team, he splits his time between its Blanchardstown and Drogheda offices, covering business along the length of the M1 corridor and the Fingal area. “We have a strong presence in Fingal. We’ve created strategic partnerships with many business across the area and helped them build their teams. We also work closely with the Chamber, with which the firm has been a strategic partner for many years, and we provide it with information and knowledge that we glean from the marketplace which can then be shared with the broader membership,” he says.

Reflecting on the impact of the pandemic on recruitment, Jim points out it has affected various businesses in different ways. “Last year was a complete unknown, so it was very much a learning curve for everyone, including ourselves. All of our staff immediately started working from home, apart from our accounts team who have continued to work onsite.

Market shock

“It came as a real shock to the market, which took a sharp step back in March and April last year. But once everybody got used to what was going on we saw a pick-up in May, with the healthcare side of things very busy, of course. Then from June to the end of the year companies began to realise that even if people had to work from home they still needed to keep their operations going, so the second half of last year was very busy for us.

“This year from March/April onwards, the economy has really begun to get moving again and over the past 3 months, it has gone into overdrive. There’s a lot of pent-up demand at the moment coming from clients looking for staff. As different sectors begin to open up they are seeing a pick-up in their order books and need to recruit staff, either on a short-term or longer-term basis, to meet those orders. So we’ve gone through different phases. This year we can see real growth which we think is likely to continue through to the end of the year and we’re definitely sensing a return of confidence amongst our clients.”

Jim also notes that his company itself has had to play different roles with its clients during the past 18 months. “We’ve been talking to them all day, every day throughout the pandemic. A lot of the time we’ve just been listening to them. If they wanted to talk about recruitment, that was great, but if they were in the unfortunate situation of having to let staff go, for example, we’d talk about what supports we might be able to provide, such as finding alternative employment opportunities. It was all about making sure we were there to listen to them and to support them. Now, as they come through this into this year, in many instances we’re back talking about hiring again.”

What is ‘new normal’?

This close relationship with clients has given Osborne valuable insights into what the “new normal” workplace may look like. “When it is safe for people generally to get back into offices again I think you’re definitely going to see more interest in developing the hybrid model of working. Obviously some businesses have been working from their premises all along, simply because the nature of their activity does not lend itself to working from home. But increasingly we’re being used as an information hub on evolving best practice. We’re constantly being asked by companies about what we’re seeing in the marketplace and the pros and cons of the approaches being taken by others to implement a hybrid model of working.”

This interest is reflected in the success of the Osborne Talent Series of webinars, run in association with Adare Human Resource Management. For example, a recent webinar in this series that explored the many legal issues related to staff working from home attracted over 500 delegates.

Looking ahead, Jim thinks that most companies have a good handle on what they need to do for the remainder of this year to prepare for a return to some kind of normality. “There are a lot of tools and information to help them ensure COVID safety compliance,” he points out. “The next set of preparation is about getting people back into the office and striking the balance between office and home working.

“Last year was very much about simply getting through it. But now I really do see people beginning to plan for expansion, thinking about where their business is headed next and how they are going to get there. Companies have got their heads around it and the contingency plans are definitely there,” he adds.

Two years ago the potential operational problems caused by Brexit and identification of practical solutions, such as in the area of customs clearance compliance, were hot topics for Irish business. “Fingal Chamber Skillnet ran a lot of training courses to help members get on top of things,” Jim points out. “It was very stressful for a lot of companies and there were a lot of unknowns ahead of the changes being implemented. I think that this training has helped people to cope – although I suspect they are still facing a lot of challenges with regard to importing and exporting.”

Back in the swing of things

Jim and his wife Janey moved to Donabate in 2002 and today enjoy the many facilities of the surrounding area. A golfer of longstanding, Jim took out membership of Beaverstown Golf Club earlier this year, where he plays regularly with his 17-year-old son, Cameron. “He now beats me,” Jim complains, albeit with equal measures of regret and pride. He played soccer well into his 30s and now coaches with local Donabate club St Ita’s AFC. Having started with the under-eights, he now coaches at Senior level.

Jim also got back into cycling over the last couple of years and with Osborne colleagues completed the Great Dublin Bike Ride in 2019 and raised money for Feed Our Homeless. He also enjoys watching sport and is interested in all types of motorsport, especially Formula 1.