Recruitment is changing
Although flashy, while headlines such as the Great Resignation and the Great Reevaluation in the recruitment sector are often a media-driven method to grab attention, the underlying context of these statements is important. The workforce has evolved, and individuals now want greater flexibility in how they work, when they work and even where they work.

To account for this, workplaces will need to evolve quickly, or else they risk losing the best employees. People now value more than simply receiving a paycheck in return for their labour; they also demand having the freedom to structure their professional and personal lives however they see fit.

Flexible work is the new norm for most…
With many businesses testing the four-day work week both in the UK and overseas, catchy slogans like the four-day work week have become a hot topic of conversation. Flexible work incentives, on the other hand, seem to be more or just as important for many employees. According to recent survey findings, flexible working hours rank second among “work perks” for employees in the UK (77%).

Flexible working is an approach to work that accommodates an employee’s demands, such as working remotely from home or with flexible start and finish hours. The abrupt transition from office-based to entirely remote work has demonstrated to us all that, with the right technology, most individuals can work productively from home. A significant number of employers now offer at least two days per week of remote working. In the UK, all employees have the legal right to seek flexible working arrangements; it is not just parents and caregivers who may do this.

After an employee requests flexible working, the employer must fairly consider the request; nevertheless, they may decide to reject any demands made, within reason. However, it is clear that working parents may now adjust their work to meet their lifestyle, rather than the other way around, by requesting they leave earlier to pick up their children.

In reality, the idea of remote working has been around since 1973. This has, however, typically been linked to occupations that require individual efforts, such as software development. In the last ten years or so, employee demand for remote work has significantly increased. COVID has done little more than speed up what was already happening, and technology has enabled us to achieve this successfully. The real issue is how to bring together teams that typically thrive on team spirit, cooperation, and problem solving, like GTM teams, and how companies can foster a social and collaborative culture when the bulk of the workforce works remotely.

Mental health and well-being incentives are proving more and more popular…
When choosing an employer, more and more current and potential employees, especially those from the newest generation Z, see wellness perks as an important component. Many of them prioritise these perks over a pay raise. While more businesses are recognising this trend and adapting their systems to reflect it, such as by offering employees a monthly membership allowance to mental health applications such as Headspace or Calm, Additionally, we’ve seen businesses provide their staff members with “mental health days”—a certain number of days that they may use to take a day off at their discretion. “No meeting days,” “company-wide weeks off to prevent burnout,” “company-paid counselling sessions,” and “mobile health” are also among the more creative ideas.

So what’s in store for the future…
When thinking about the workplace and workforce 10–15 years from now, a lot of the changes we see now emerging will still be present. Companies that understand their workers and realise that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to work is no longer acceptable or advantageous to the business will be the ones that win in the long term. The majority of employees now have much higher expectations from potential or present employers than they did five or more years ago, most of which centre on benefits and perks. Leaders who are aware of this will be less likely to have excessive employee turnover and skill shortages.

People will want the freedom to work from anywhere they choose, at the hours that suit them, while also having the chance to contribute to an office culture and form personal bonds with their coworkers. Many were reminded by COVID that, because we are social beings, we want interactions and connections—things that Zoom or Teams meetings just cannot provide. Meetings in real life are exceedingly difficult to recreate since they constitute the foundation of any organisation’s culture.

Over the course of the next ten years or so, technology will undoubtedly advance; perhaps instead of Zoom meetings, we’ll all be donning VR headsets and convening in a conference room with colleagues from the Metaverse. Every aspect of our lives is being transformed by technology, and employment will be no exception.