t is a fact that , around the world , our industry has been one of the last to escape from the legal restrictions imposed by national governments . The reasons are obvious , if painfully misguided . In short , unlike sport or shopping , we are not ‘ popular culture ’, and so are easy prey for governments , safe in the knowledge that they won ’ t have the national press on their backs fighting our corner !

Even though we would add significant economic recovery benefits to many other business sectors ( such as travel , hospitality and retail ), this is seemingly , too complex an equation for many national governments to understand . Even when legal restrictions on business gatherings are removed there is another problem we face . Without doubt there will be a global hangover in the travel field , both at a personal and / or corporate level . Our international events will still be a challenge to run , while so many exhibitors , visitors and sponsors are unable or unwilling to travel . I ’ ve had many nice messages

from EW readers saying a ‘ thank you ’ for a positive and upbeat set of articles during the pandemic , however , this one is different I ’ m afraid . That ’ s not to say it is negative , but , I do need to highlight an issue that many of you are becoming aware of . As with tackling our respective governments on lockdown policies , we are all going to need to work together to tackle the already palpable matter of a skills shortage .

Various factors , some I ’ ve already mentioned above , have meant that before many countries have even got back to an industry ‘ norm ’, we are already struggling to meet our talent requirements . Most thought that when we came out of Covid restrictions , we would have a huge amount of redundant talent we could tap into . However , the long arm of the pandemic has meant that many industry players have had no option but to find work outside the industry . With things not picking up as quickly as they have in other sectors , we ’ ve found that many of these people do not want to come back ( they ’ d previously indicated they did want

Above : Trevor Foley

to ). They have found that the ‘ grass is greener ’, salaries are higher and there are fewer pressures than those associated with show cycle deadlines . The uncertainties facing our sector do not make us an attractive proposition right now .

The challenge is different in different parts of the world . In countries or regions that have been operational for some time – China , the Middle East – we are finding that industry players are reluctant to move in uncertain times . In the US , government policy has been too generous such that people do not yet see the need to return to work . Where workforces are more public sector orientated , such as Germany and other countries in mainland Europe , it has been more a case of a re-balance from previous levels of overemployment .

However , in the UK , for example , we have had a ‘ brain-drain ’ away from the sector and there will be a problem in getting back up to speed as and when things re-open .

So , here ’ s the CALL TO ACTION . We must , in certain countries , embark on an industry promotion campaign . We need the commercial businesses , the associations and the industry press ( I ’ ve already been having conversations with Mash Media , the publishers of EW , on this topic ), to put proper money into a campaign to reach into universities and other business sectors ( such as the struggling High Street retail sector for example ).

We saw , during the pandemic , that we were not set up as we needed to be to address government lobbying effectively . We need money and a plan to address the talent shortage in our industry . I ’ m backing our industry to make it happen and , for one , tfconnect will be a funding partner .

Let ’ s get ready to rumble !