3 min read
The only thing that is normal is that nothing is normal. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic two years ago, change above all has defined the labour market. Certain trends have nevertheless emerged. Which of them are here to stay?
Trends in the labour market are usually measured by economic growth, demographics or innovation. Developments become apparent, unfold at a fairly leisurely pace and allow a degree of predictability.
2020 changed everything. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic plunged the world into the most serious health crisis since the early 20th century and brought social and economic life to a far-reaching standstill. Almost overnight, companies were forced into crisis mode. Since then, ever new challenges have shaped everyday working life. The job platform Glassdoor knows which new normal companies have to come to terms with: in a study, it identified four trends for 2022:
1. Qualified staff still hard to find
An increasingly pressing skills shortage has been looming for many years. The surprisingly rapid recovery of the economy in spring 2021 and the resulting rise in demand for staff further aggravated the imbalance in the labour market. There is no relief in sight in 2022 either. On the contrary: qualified employees will remain not only hard to find, but it will also become increasingly difficult to retain them, Glassdoor predicts.
Companies should therefore develop long-term recruiting strategies and pay particular attention to a pleasant company culture, good career prospects and well-chosen benefits in order to be, and remain, attractive to employees.
2. Remote work increases competition
It is not only the shortage of skilled workers that is pushing companies to increase their appeal as employers. With home office and remote work now established in many industries, more and more firms are competing for the best talent regardless of location.
Glassdoor therefore recommends that HR departments pay extra attention to successful employee retention in order to hold their own in competition with other employers.
3. Diversity and inclusion can no longer be ignored
In 2022, too, companies are still struggling with diversity and inclusion. The percentage of women in work is growing steadily, but they remain confined to lower-paid jobs. Only about one in three managers was a woman in 2019. And when it comes to inclusion, too, companies have a lot of catching up to do. According to Glassdoor, in 2022 employees consider a diverse and inclusive working environment to be about as important as their pay or an appropriate work-life balance. Quite apart from the urgency of the issue itself, companies are well advised to stop ignoring diversity and inclusion.
4. Last but not least: community
It is becoming clear that the needs of employees must increasingly move into the focus of employers and HR departments. This is also reflected in the last – and particularly pleasing – point of the 2022 labour market trends: community.
The pandemic years have made us feel how important connection and community in the workplace are. Glassdoor therefore predicts that community among employees will be a topic companies should take seriously. For employees, this is above all about transparency among themselves, but also on the part of senior management. Employers who act transparently themselves and involve their staff in various processes will be more successful in future than others.
