Sales halved during the pandemic, I laid off staff, now demand is up but I can't get people back

same thing happened to us bro. the people we laid off are working elsewhere, settled in... getting them back is very hard. now we're hiring young peoople and training them but efficiency has dropped a lot. it's not like the old team

Important rule in business management: losing an employee is more costly than finding a new one. During the pandemic, if you had kept staff on partial leave (50% salary etc.), recalling them now would be easy. But it's too late. Add training costs to the staff you hire in a rush.

to do: 1- Raise salaary sets to market rates, 2- Add a productivity bonus (X hours a week = Y money), 3- Do a 3-month trial for new hires (short contract), 4- Recall former employees extend the contract if demand peaks

note: I wrote this based on my own experience, it might not apply to everyone.

bro the best part is: there's demand, there's sales! most businesses are struggling with zero demand and falling sales, but your business is growing. just hire and train some staff it'll take a bit of time but production will pick up!

Correction: I misremembered the figure, it was a bit lower.

pandemic: 'cut your staff sales will go up' it said. nobody probably believed it. :) now youll have to hire them back, the market was high. it was an expensive lesson but we learned from it.

operational flexibility management: instead of minimizing fixed costs (salaries), maximize variable costs (hourly, bonuses). this way the business is more resilient during volatile periods. looking at your situation, you should operate flexibly during demand waves.

my question is: are you currently unable to hire new people, or are new hires not keeping up with demand? if it's the first problem, it's simpler (higher salary), if it's the second, it means you lack training infrastructure.

Three different views emerged, they all complement each other. Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right.

If you post the result here, it will help others too.

I think differently. anyway taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

If you post the result here it will help others too.

Correct. Delaying bad news is the habit that causes the most losses in this job.

If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

Could you elaborate on that? The real issue isn't the number but what it's based on.

Everyone rushing into post-pandemic recovery gets stuck at the same point. Hope this helps.

Do you think this works at any scale? Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently.

If I were you, I'd go this route.

There is something to watch out for. Processes without records never improve, because you don't know what to fix.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

Saved. Delaying bad news is the habit that causes the most losses in this job.

Correct.

There is something to watch out for. The harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it.

Hope this helps.

Great work. Trying to do this alone is the most expensive way.

That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

the most overlooked point about post-pandemic recovery is this: Everything goes well for the first three months; problems aise in the fourth.

hope this helps.