The New Workforce Paradigm: COVID's Aftermath

The global pandemic was the first catastrophic occurrence that affected almost everyone on the planet in some unexpected way. On the business front, terms such as “pivoting,” the “new normal” and “working from home” were on all our minds whether we liked it or not. However, a more significant shift was bubbling to the surface, with the pandemic merely being the impetus for a dire need for businesses to recognize and embrace the sweeping change necessary for employee engagement and performance. 

From confusion over where people will actually do their job to the Great Resignation, these only scratch the surface of what is really happening. Where it used to be that workers needed to accept whatever a company offered, now the tables have turned. Workers have expectations that must be met or they will go elsewhere. The workforce is now in the driver's seat. 

This article’s purpose is to share insights gained that the pandemic has revealed. Our “new normal” is that how we recruit and retain quality talent and skillsets has changed forever and will never be the same. Read that again. Change is here to stay in significant ways, and the pandemic is akin to Bette Davis’ quote in the movie All About Eve, “Fasten your seatbelts, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” 

So what is it going to take to build a strong workforce now?

1. Hybrid, In-office, Remote, or From Home: When business stood still amidst the pandemic, and many workers were forced to work from home by government mandates, a new era of HR terminology was born with little or no policies in place to effectively manage. As the months droned on, employees working from home thought it was okay to move to another state. Other workers realized benefits of no longer having a commute.

Employers actually benefited with employees actually starting work when they would have normally started their commute, giving employers more hours, especially salaried employees. 

2. The Great Resignation: In July of 2021, an unprecedented number of Americans quit their jobs, representing over 4 million workers leaving jobs with 10.9 million open jobs needing filled.  Employees between the ages of 30 and 45 years old had the greatest increase in resignation rates. Resignations were highest in the technology and healthcare fields. With the pandemic still underway, this forced many healthcare-related businesses to scramble or turn down opportunities due to being short staffed, further impacting capacity and cash flow. Resignations were higher in fields where extreme increases in demand due to the pandemic likely led to increased workload and burnout. 

Another interesting trend occurring we have been tracking that is unrelated to the pandemic has opened several clients’ eyes to an overlooked workforce. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the age segment experiencing the fastest growth rate in going back to work are ages 65 – 75+ years. The report went on to state that “the labor force growth rate of the 65- to 74-year-old age group is expected to be about 55 percent, and the labor force growth rate of the 75-and-older age group is expected to be about 86 percent, compared with a 5-percent increase for the labor force as a whole.” Why such a significant increase in going back to work?

My client, Lori Zeind, with LCZ Consulting shared some interesting data in her Zinsurance blog entitled, Before You Need It, from Pew Research which cited the number of people to live to 100 and beyond will grow eightfold by 2050. That’s only 28 years away!  When you take into consideration that the fastest growing employee-base sector is 65+, along with the fact that many of them are going to be nearing or over 100 by 2050, the reason they are going back to work is that they didn’t plan effectively to supplement their retirement to last until close to or over 100 years old. The answer? Part-time employment, and not just as a Walmart greeter, but where their hearts and brainpower can really make a difference.

3. Cost of Being Employed: Amidst the “work from home” and “Zoom” world that office workers found themselves playing in, business attire took a back seat to sweats, jerseys, and baseball caps, minimal make up, or being half dressed. All the sudden cars were not being driven, a commute was no longer a dreaded daily occurrence, and the convenience of food delivery and technology created a new mindset of how time and money was being spent. 

For essential workers, jobs within grocery, food production, and transportation, workers became engaged in an unexpected high health risk position equivalent to healthcare and construction employment. The soaring price of gas as workers were expected to go back to the office, after saving so much on gas by not driving and working from home,, added to a renewed focus on what it was costing to be employed.

Areas employees are now scrutinizing more deeply in their employment choice decisions include:

4. Benefits More Important Than Pay: With the Great Resignation and a closer look at the cost of being employed, you can now begin to see that benefits are going to be more important to today’s workforce in where they will work and with whom they will choose to work. Interestingly, there is a false negative (excuse the COVID pun) with many employers currently losing people to significantly higher pay.

As companies in all industries battle to fill vacant workforce slots with salaries and hourly rates sky rocketing, there is currently a belief it is all about pay. The reason I say it is a false negative is that many employers are overwhelmed with how they are losing people to much higher pay offers. However, if employers strictly focus on pay, without considering benefits, the pay carrot won’t work in the long run.

An accounting department seeking to hire a district controller learned that a candidate took another position for $50,000 higher annual pay and the ability to work remotely. It wasn’t just the pay that sealed that deal. It was the benefit perception of the desire to work more remotely for that particular candidate, who knew he could be highly productive remotely, whereas the company who lost out expected him to be in the office working.  Chances are, there were other benefits also attracting this lost candidate. It was just easier for the candidate to share the higher pay as the deal breaker. 

5. Control vs. Productivity: As the world emerges from the pandemic, leaders of companies are being forced to rethink the way they view productivity and how it is achieved.

The thinking that employees must be under your roof and control where you can watch their every move is no longer reasonable or appealing. 

An MIT Sloan Review article adeptly highlights that it is going to take an alignment of efficiency, effectiveness, and balance with our workforce moving forward through thoughtful work design. In the article, efficiency is defined with such measures as reducing office space, commuting, travel and entertainment activities, whereas effectiveness is about executing on existing goals, innovating solutions in the form of products, services and business models. Quality of life is the final consideration that must be addressed with regard to balance in an employee’s life. 

Many companies are weighing the hybrid model cost and benefits, with still more insights to be gained on what the best practices for hybrid work will be. Many companies are making efficiency gains from reduced travel and office space permanent. The key question mark right now is the ratio of virtual to in-office presence that will be the most effective.