Some companies are still hiring, but only some

While most companies are opting for pay-cuts and lay-offs to minimise losses, some companies have however managed to stave off the downslide and are recruiting new employees.

Beatnik – a digital marketing agency based in Dhaka – is currently hiring employees as they have managed to scale-up their client base amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Although most of their clients have temporarily shut down operations, Mohammad Salman Fayaz Alvee, business development manager of Beatnik, said, "In a sense, we managed to come up with four new clients for every two of our existing clients who remained inactive."

Currently, Beatnik is mostly engaged with clients working in the development sector. "We spontaneously reached out to potential clients enquiring whether they are looking forward to launching campaigns during lockdown," said Fayaz.

Since their workload is increasing, they are expanding their team to carry out operations effectively.

This agency is currently hiring character animators and illustration artists with at least one year of work experience. The applicant, however, does not need to have graduation in order to apply for the above-mentioned positions.

Beatnik managed to seize the opportunity of broadening its customer base. Perhaps it has been possible for the company to do so as it operates on a B2B model, and can provide its services to a variety of businesses that have remained active during the pandemic.

Moreover, when most entities had to shut down their operations due to the spread of Covid-19 in Bangladesh, Bproperty – the country's only virtual real estate solution provider – did not face any drawbacks and is recruiting employees as well.

When asked why Bproperty is expanding its team, Faizah Mohsin Zaarah, manager of organisation development and human resources, said, "Our vision continues to grow, and we have been able to serve our customers better over time. That is why we need to continue recruiting candidates who can support the organisation to achieve its goals."

She added, "Right now, we have limited our recruitments and are focusing on an urgent-need basis only. But hopefully, with our training and coaching processes, we can ensure all our departments are working smoothly."

Since Bproperty is an online business, the virus and the shutdown had little to no effect on its operations. In fact, Faizah mentioned that they are still getting a good number of queries every day, and people have become more inclined to using their virtual tour feature.

Though there are a few companies that are offering job opportunities in such hard times, the overall state of the job market is in great distress. The number of jobs posts on virtual platforms has decreased drastically.

According to Imrul Kayes, assistant general manager of sales and marketing at Bdjobs, prior to the shutdown, 3,600-4,000 jobs would be posted on their website every day. During the initial days of the shutdown, the number has dropped to around 300.

For the time being, around 1,000 jobs are being posted on Bdjobs every day.

Among all the job posts on Bdjobs, surprisingly, the garment and textile category has the highest number of active vacant posts (211), followed by marketing and sales which has 178 active posts. Despite jobs that are available, the majority of the companies are currently looking for mid-level or experienced executives.

Kayes mentioned, "The number of jobs posts is gradually improving but if the situation does not get better, it will become very challenging for us and for everyone else to sustain in the job market."

Even though the job market paradigm is shifting to people's disadvantage, there are some opportunities for jobseekers. However, one may not see his or her choice of vacant posts out there. This may be the time for graduates to step out of their academic field, try out different sectors and build new skills.