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Contrary to how it sounds, the ‘Pandemic Skip’ is not a kind of jaunty cough-jumpcough walk symptom experienced by those infected with covid.
It’s a feeling of having lost grip on time – a sense of having blinked in 2020, only to be catapulted into a future that is at once familiar and unfamiliar.
Much of the conversation has been centred around Millennials, who, now having transitioned into their 30s and 40s, have awoken from the enforced ’slumber’ of the past four crisis years with a sense of personal and professional panic. Should I have bought a house earlier? Am I too late to find a partner?? When will I have kids??? Have I missed the opportunity to get a promotion????
However, the ‘skip’ is actually something that can be said to apply more widely, and certainly in Jersey.
Everything has changed and… nothing has.
Except the fact we’re older (not sure about wiser). Oh, and all those problems we had before - in the 2019/20 Connect foreword, the then-editor namechecked the brain drain, housing and environment as among the island’s key issues – they’re all still here, but now even harder to deal with.
But we’re now in a period of transition. Potentially setting a new course (or indeed any course at all), we’ve had big changes in the top tiers of our civil service (did ‘OneGov’ even happen?)… and maybe, if the whispers are correct, we may see some significant political power shifts too.
Fittingly, as we bid farewell to 2023 and look ahead to 2024, this month’s Connect focuses on stories of transition, evolution and renewal.
Our cover story (P44) tells the tale of an IT and cybersecurity firm that started in a converted garage and grew to service clients all over the world – and recently opened a new office in the former Bond Street home of Bailiwick Express.
We also hear from local businesses who are evolving in other ways: from deftly adapting to the ever-shifting tides of trends to succession planning, innovating to fight off the latest contributor to their industry’s “perfect storm” (New beginnings, P4)…or creating something beautiful from an actual one (P60).
But perhaps none exemplify the spirit of renewal so much of homelessness charity Sanctuary Trust, which Connect has had the pleasure of partnering with this year. Their work is a poignant reminder that, with every challenge or ending, there is an opportunity for a brilliant new beginning.
As we stand on the cusp of a New Year, let’s raise a glass – or a copy of Connect – to the brave people who embrace change and make our island a better place for it.
See you in February.
