Ten days off, and I spend more time on the high street, shops and stores of my small home city, Ely, Cambridgeshire, at this time of year than I do i nthe previous 11 months. But recruitment is never far from mind. And there’s good news to share: even in a small city like Ely, recruitment hasn’t come to a grinding halt, in spite of the doom mongering about what allegedly lies ahead in 2012 and 2013 in economic terms.

Two businesses on Ely’s High Street have recruitment notices posted on their doors. One is a ‘value’ shoe chain, seeking a manager and an assistant. The other is Lloyd’s Pharmacy seeking both experienced and trainee dispensers. “Experience and qualifications less important than attitude,” the Lloyd’s notice announces. That’s a sign of the times, isn’t it? An open mindset toward potential and capability, not a tick box list of requirements. These notices tell me two different stories. The need for workers at the value shoe suggests that a steady stream of customers are seeking out bargain shoes to save money, ie, life in the new austerity. The need for dispensers and the willingness to seek out potential tells me that the war for talent in this field still rages amongst the pharmacy companies such as Lloyds and Boots, as well as the relative newcomers to pharmacy — Tesco, for example.

Speaking of Tesco and recruitment: a galloping lack of recruitment savvy on display at my local Tesco, again in Ely. From the checkout counters, a large board entitled “Staff Vacancies” at the front was visible. This board had holders for as many as nine to 12 cards, and each holder held a card. “Wha-hey,” I thought. “That’s a lot of jobs.” After paying for and bagging my groceries, I sauntered over to the board to see what jobs were on offer — you never know where you might find a story. Each card in each of the holders announced that there were no vacancies currently, no jobs whatsoever. (Yes, I read each card.) Did I feel misled?

Given the number of job seekers everywhere at the moment, filling each holder with a card that says there are no jobs is not only cruel but has the look of a ‘make work’ activity. (Remember the film “The Shining”, in which a crazed Jack Nicholson types “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” over and over again on each of 500 pages? That doesn’t bode well for the Tesco employee assigned the task of crafting these particular cards.) Leave the holders empty, for heaven’s sake; then job seekers can reasonably infer, no listings, no jobs.

On a larger, national scale, I’m sure I’m not alone in being delighted for Bombardier about their massive £188m contract win to build trains for Southern Rail. What this means for Bombardier’s recruitment is unclear at the moment — although it’s been exciting to follow Bombardier’s recruitment team’s online efforts in recent months — but the win does mean jobs for the Derby-based carriage maker. And jobs are what count for cities like Derby and smaller ones such as Ely in the months and years to come.