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2 years since the pandemic started and it has been an unpredictable time for businesses and workers. This has led to shifting mindsets for employees and hirers, as well as a new approach to working conditions, which will most likely follow as we enter into endemicity.
To cope during the transition into the ‘new normal’, businesses will need to find an appropriate strategy to discover and retain valuable workers.
Trend #1: A Continued Rise in Gig Economy
The gig economy has always been around for workers to earn an additional income or to pursue other interests aside from their “main” job. The growing fascination for freedom and work-life balance has also been attracting employees to pursue gig work as their primary work.
The development in the gig economy provided a lifeline during these times, especially for those who suffered the heaviest blow from the travel and tourism industry due to the pandemic. More are turning to food-delivery gig jobs to keep afloat since then.
As such, we can see the trend that’s slowly taking shape till today.
Given this time of uncertainty, alternative working opportunities are becoming more popular because of work flexibility. In 2022, businesses will have no choice but to recognise and reward their talents, lest they leave for better opportunities.
Thus, there will be competition among businesses to attract and keep talent as workers now have greater leverage to urge for better conditions.
According to Forbes, more than half of American workers would enter the gig economy by 2023. Assuming that this trend will follow throughout the world, businesses will have to make changes to their management of human resources to meet new workers’ conditions.
Trend #2: Changing Work Environment
Remote work has always been a farfetched concept, especially for a small country like Singapore, until the pandemic began. The conversion to remote work started in order to curb the COVID-19 cases have led to businesses converting without much choice.
However, not everyone enjoys working from home and the next practical step for businesses would be to introduce a hybrid working environment as a compromise to meet their workers’ needs.
In other words, the usual way things are being done is no longer preferred and there’s a need to recognise this demand in flexibility. It is more likely that this incentive will attract workers as it allows them to balance their personal and professional priorities equally.
To address this change, companies will have to make the necessary adjustments to pull this off. As employees all-around seek flexibility and increasingly have more say in their jobs, businesses should work towards providing optimal working conditions to attract and retain their talents.
Trend #3: Greater Emphasis on an Employee-Centric Work Culture
2 years into the pandemic and businesses are realising how crucial an employee is to an organisation. With this renewed realisation, workers enjoy greater leverage and balance has shifted to an employee-centric focus.
In those 2 years, many workers around the world worry about losing their jobs because of uncertainties. But now, a new wave dubbed “The Great Resignation” might hit our local shores. This phenomenon prompted many to re-evaluate their life choices which leads to them quitting their jobs in pursuit of a better quality of life.
There are many factors at play when it comes down to why there are few workers available to hire despite the high number of job openings provided by the Government.
Whatever the reasons are, it still remains that workers have a greater bargaining position now. With more workers expecting a positive work culture, businesses could direct some effort into creating a better work environment to increase work productivity.
A high level of satisfaction and experience in a company could lead to an increase in employee retention.
While a high pay could attract more workers, the workers of today are looking beyond salary – they are also looking for flexibility, upskilling and a healthy work environment. It is not a straightforward approach and requires much trial and error to decide on a suitable strategy that works for each company.
Regardless, the ones who manage to adapt to these workplace trends will be at an advantage.
Outside is Singapore’s leading community micro-job platform that creates micro (l)earning opportunities for students, homemakers and seniors.
As a two-sided platform, Outside provides an all-in-one outsourcing management platform for businesses, assisting in breaking down jobs into smaller simpler pieces and improving operations efficiency. For job seekers, Outside provides flexible job opportunities that users can easily pick up and complete within the Outside app, allowing them to work conveniently and earn reliably.
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