Is it the Right Time to Move to London Yet?
For everyone across the world, COVID-19 has put a pause on most plans for 2020, including those who had hopes and dreams of moving overseas to begin their exciting new life in London. For those stuck in their home countries with plans to relocate to London on hold, how do they know when the right time is to make the move?
Are Things Back to Normal?
Restrictions are gradually lifting across the UK with pubs, restaurants and local accommodation opening from July onwards (hooray), however things are by no means back to life pre-lockdown. In fact, it may be some time before life returns to the simpler times when we didn’t have to worry about how many people were in the pub, we were able to socialise with more than just members of our household and we didn’t need to worry about dodging people on the footpath to remain two meters apart (this is quite a challenging thing to do in a city of 9 million people!). But never fear, London is one of the biggest cities in the world, full of global cultures, history and an abundance of social activities – it will thrive once again.
When is the Right Time to Move to London?
This is one of the biggest questions we are receiving from our overseas-based candidates and one we continue to see people asking across social media platforms. In all honesty, there really is no right or wrong answer. As visa centres slowly begin to reopen and airlines start to reintroduce available flight schedules, everyone is eager to make the move to the UK as soon as they can and we are expecting to see new arrivals in the following months for those wanting to arrive and enjoy some of the UK summer.
What is the Job Market Like at the Moment?
It’s no secret that London is one of the biggest global cities for career advancement and new career opportunities. After lockdown was announced, the entire city shut down in a matter of days and began implementing working from home. Almost four months on and many are still working from home. To this day, millions of people have been on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) whilst many more have faced the harsh reality of redundancies. Some businesses are not able to safely return back to their offices until the later part of the year, with some even not returning until 2021.
As the year progresses though we have begun to see businesses implement new strategies and adapt to virtual hiring and onboarding of workers, as well as seeing successes in the hiring of temporary and contract employees. Within the upcoming months businesses will begin to move back into the city and into their office spaces and as a result the job market will grow with that return.
What are the Benefits of Still Making the Move to London in 2020?
- SUMMER! Get outside and enjoy the beautiful parks with a takeaway beer
- Now is the perfect time to snap up photos of famous landmarks without a gazillion tourists in the background trying to get the same shot
- You will beat the rush of people looking to move over when things return to normal
- There are readily available flats to choose from with lower rental prices than normal
- You will be at the gateway to Europe when borders do open and it is safe to travel again
If you are a candidate based overseas and decide to make the move, contact our team so we can help you with your job search on your arrival at support@australasian.co.uk
Take care, stay safe and stay positive and we hope to see you soon!
Australasian Recruitment Company