From the Chair: 27 January 2022

In this week's #MEAExpress, MEA Chairman Michael Firman talks about learning to live in the fallout of the pandemic and some predictions for the year ahead. 

As the end of 2021 drew near, there was an air of optimism and talk of recovery for the events industry in 2022. Optimism for our sector in 2021 was largely driven by vaccination rates and the commitment from governments to ‘open up’ as vaccination rates hit 80%. While the emergence of the Omicron variant has not had the devastating health impacts than the Delta variant, Omicron has definitely raised the level of uncertainty for our sector compared to the optimism shown at the end of 2021.

Globally we see that with each wave of an outbreak the overall impact on the economy lessons. Here in Australia, booster rates are starting to climb, state border restrictions have eased, international travel is gradually resuming and there's an election on the horizon. Businesses that survived two years of uncertainty are reopening and trying to rebuild.

In 2022 we must adapt to life with COVID and learn to live with the fallout of the pandemic, less from a public health perspective but more from an economic perspective. The fallout from labour shortages, supply chains, travel restrictions, limited migration, how we adapt to deal with and tackle these issues seems to be the evolving story of 2022.

The supply chain issues that are going on in the global production cycle look likely to continue affecting prices over the next year. The huge increase in demand that we’ve seen from consumers for global goods is putting additional upward pressure on the price of goods and our ability to access those goods.

As our industry begins to open up, consumers are going to shift their demand from goods towards services as the services economy reopens. As we open up, the demand for retail, hospitality, events and personal services will see the prices we pay for goods and services continue to increase, leading to ongoing inflation.

The fallout of the pandemic has also resulted in a tight labour market for our sector putting upward pressure on wages. As the pandemic drove workers out of our sector due to two years of inactivity, competition for skilled workers is creating a spiral effect whereby rising prices for goods coupled with demand for skilled workers is driving inflation. As inflation increases, this creates continued upward pressure on wages as workers seek to gain an increase in wages to meet the rising prices and maintain living standards.

Another fundamental change born of the pandemic has been the ability for employees to work from home. Many workers feel they have been more productive at home because they have better control over their time and enjoy better work–life balance. But that doesn’t work for people who want to hustle, doesn’t work for culture and doesn’t work for idea generation especially in an industry that relies on creativity and culture to curate events.

For some, a hybrid model has evolved with a balance of remote work on some days of the week and going into the office on other days. A Hybrid model is appealing because it balances the benefits of working in the office — being able to collaborate, innovate and interact with colleagues face-to-face — with the flexibility, quiet and lack of commuting associated with working from home.

Is working from home an additive to stifling our industry from recovery? For the events industry, face-to-face interaction is essential to effective work. Workers who do not spend enough time in the office may be ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and may have fewer opportunities for learning and training.

At the height of the pandemic while working from home, I certainly missed the hum of activity, the energy, the creativity and the team collaboration I felt in the office. While many employees highly value the ability to work from home, there are reduced opportunities for collaboration and

networking. Any reduced face-to-face interaction with managers could have consequences for long-term career prospects. Working from home can also worsen physical and mental health due to decreased incidental exercise, increased isolation, and the elimination of the boundaries between home and work life.

While the ability for some employees to work from home still exists, the reality is we rely on face-to-face interaction because it is key in building those important relationships with our clients as well as our employees. What COVID has shown us is that face-to-face interactions are crucial in enhancing your relationships to the next level, building trust and obtaining loyalty. Only in-person events can deliver the kind of personal attention that shows clients that you are actively listening and helps to establish trust through body language, eye contact and tone of voice.

There is no substitute for human interaction. Face-to-face interactions help build confidence because they help to make stronger connections, enhance trust and provide live feedback.

For the events industry, the importance of in-person events appears to be overshadowed by consumer confidence to attend events. The election, climate change policies, and relations between State and Federal governments could also have an enduring impact on our industry in 2022. We tend to see that around any election, we can get some pretty large movements in consumer sentiment. And while the Consumer Sentiment Index in Australia remained relatively solid despite the rapid spread of the omicron variant over the last month, states impacted by ‘Delta’ lockdowns appear to have been less unsettled by the rapid spread of Omicron than those in states experiencing their first major wave of COVID infections.

It must be said that not enough has been done in the main stream media to promote how our industry operates under controlled COVID-Safe principles because when done well, these protocols can inject confidence for visitors and participants at events.

While 2021 ended with optimism for our industry, 2022 will be a year of learning to live with COVID, learning how to adapt and build confidence, and learning how to tackle the impacts of COVID not just from a health perspective but also from an economic perspective.