These 5 working life trends will be apparent at workplaces soon
Remote and hybrid work arrangements have also introduced new ways to seek jobs and work from home more flexibly. Employees have become more selective about their jobs.
Here is a list of five trends of working life that are on the rise. Now is the time to go over your personnel policy, staff risk management protocols and your range of commitment and reward practices.
1. Threshold for changing jobs at a record low
In June 2021, a record 4.9 million employees in the United States gave their notice (article in Finnish), which is nearly 3% of the country’s workforce. There is an unprecedented staff shortage in Finland as well, especially in restaurants (article in Finnish), not to mention certain expert sectors where there has been high demand for employees for years. Many experts say that the labour market will strongly favour employees in the near future.
2. Remote work does not support inclusion in work communities
Remote and hybrid model employees do not necessarily become part of the work community in the same way as when working in-person. The connection to the work community may be very weak, which makes it easier and less painful to change jobs. On the other hand, the pandemic has made many employees realise that their lives are limited and they do not want to stay in jobs where they are unhappy.
It is particularly challenging to become familiar with the company’s culture and operating methods if the organisation’s methods have not been adequately planned with regard to remote and hybrid work.
3. Increasing uncertainty over the adequacy of pension security
Many feel uncertain of their level of income as they age. The financial sustainability of the pension system over the long term (pdf in Finnish) poses a challenge, for example. Life expectancy is also constantly increasing, which sets even more challenges for the current pension system.
Additional pension cover as an employee benefit might be an even more effective way to engage and recruit skilled employees than you think.
4. Tax rates are not going down
If the intention is to secure the services of the welfare state and to maintain the current pension system, tax rates will certainly not go down in the near future.
In Finland, higher salary always means that a higher percentage of the salary is spent on taxes, which is not always motivating to the employee and might put the employer under unreasonable pressure to raise the salary even higher. Because of this, the range of remunerations in addition to salary offered by the employer becomes even more important.
5. Older employees are in demand
Statistics show that the employment rate of people over 55 has been raising from 2000 onwards. The trend is particularly ideal for the demographic dependency ratio. As average life expectancy is increasing, there is demand for employees to continue working as old as possible.
This is also a favourable trend for employers as labour shortage will become a real challenge. In daily life, however, this typically involves investments in maintaining the work ability of older employee and possible incentives to continue working as old as possible.
How can your company prepare for these trends?
At Söderberg & Partners, we have created a tool and development process for staff risk analysis for our clients to help companies prevent, transfer or limit the risks related to their staff.
The model helps secure the company’s most essential resource—the people behind the business. Throughout the process, your company will also discover new ways to attract more skilled experts in the future. Contact us to learn more from our expert.
