The New American Workforce
Agile, Flexible, Resilient
COVID-19 has changed a lot of things for a lot of people. Before the pandemic, I never used “social distancing” as part of my everyday vocabulary. And I never even thought about shutting down many countries all at once!
It has also changed where we work, how we interact with colleagues, and how we deliver results expected from us. Here are just several ways COVID-19 has significantly transformed our work:
Working from Home
With people across the globe encouraged to stay at home to prevent furthering the spread of COVID-19, many professionals found themselves quickly adjusting to a Work-From-Home (WFH) policy.
One of the challenges of suddenly switching to a WFH setup was that people weren’t prepared. Office-based professionals had to create a dedicated workspace for video calls, as well as obtain and learn the technology they needed to work efficiently. Last year, one online store alone sold half a million desks and office chairs. One of the biggest challenges was the need for a fast and reliable internet connection. This coming year, as a result of remote work, the global IT spend forecast is $332.9 billion!
When Stay-At-Home orders are finally lifted, many employees will want to keep WFH as an alternative mode of working. WFH has given workers an average of nearly an hour more of productive time. And while it may cost them around $108 a month in additional food and utilities, they’re saving $4,367 over a year by eliminating commutes.
Increased Flexibility
Nine million of us relocated between the start of the pandemic and October 2020. The pandemic has made many organizations take a second look at what employees need. There may not be a 100% transition to a WFH arrangement, but more employees will be rethinking why they need to be in the office and considering the cost savings just mentioned. To go along with that, employers can save $11,000 per employee each year by having them work remotely just half of the time.
Employee Engagement & Team Connection
Employee engagement is a critical factor in the success of any organization. This is even more apparent during the pandemic with people working on their own at home.
Supporting basic human needs that enable people to do their best work – regardless of where that work takes place – is vital to fostering a successful company culture. This includes:
Safety: Establishing a baseline of physical and psychological safety for all employees.
Belonging: Building community among employees is fundamental to establishing a sense of belonging and aligning with the purpose of the organization.
Recognition: Creating a culture of recognition, acceptance, appreciation or status based on merit.
Growth: An employee’s professional growth is directly tied to success of the business. It is imperative that organizations build a culture that prioritizes learning and development programs.
Speaking of Learning and Development…
During the pandemic, people have become familiar with attending virtual classes, seminars, and training alongside taking e-learning course modules from the comfort of their homes. With the latest improvements in technology, virtual training and e-learning have become more refined and more accessible. Post COVID-19, e-learning will continue to be an integral aspect of employee training and development, and companies should consider the benefit of utilizing it to reducing employee training costs.
A Shift in the Occupational Mix
Vacant office space reached 4 billion square feet in the 54 largest U.S. markets during the pandemic, and companies are planning to reduce office space by 30%. Demand for restaurants and retail in downtown areas, and U.S. public transit agencies are looking at a shortfall of $39.3 billion through the end of 2023. Remote work will also put a dent in business travel. And the U.S. dry cleaning and laundry industry saw a revenue loss of $4.25 billion in the past year.
The trends accelerated by COVID-19 may spur greater changes, and a markedly different occupational mix may emerge after the pandemic. The largest negative impact of the pandemic will probably fall on workers in food service and customer sales and service roles, as well as less-skilled office support roles. Jobs in warehousing and transportation may increase as a result of the growth in e-commerce and the delivery economy, but those increases are unlikely to offset the disruption of many low-wage jobs.
Demand for workers in the healthcare and STEM occupations may grow more than before, with increased attention to health as populations age. The need for people who can create, deploy, and maintain new technologies will grow correspondingly.
Conclusion
The pandemic has created numerous changes around the world. One of the most notable changes is in the way we work. As companies and their employees adjust to new ways of doing work, organizations and employees must remain flexible and ready to embrace a hybrid workplace that fits everyone’s “new normal.”