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If there is any place where change is constant, it is the workplace. Thanks to Covid, where and how tens of millions of people work today have little resemblance to how and where they worked before the pandemic.
As the coronavirus crisis is about to enter its third year, eight experts shared their predictions about what it could be like for business leaders to manage the ever-changing workplace in 2022.
Two New Waves Of The Great Resignation
Kathryn Minshew is the founder and CEO of The Muse, a career platform. She said there will be two more waves of the Great Resignation in the first half of next year.
- One in January/February, as people come back from time with family over the holidays and after they receive their bonuses.
- A second wave in the spring, once companies have finally settled into back to the office and/or formalized other post-pandemic workplace arrangements
She noted that, “with so many people expected to change jobs in the first half of the year, it’s inevitable more than a few will experience an ‘oh no, what have I done?’ moment in the new position when they realize maybe this job or company was not what they expected.
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“While in the past, most people would have stuck it out anyway for at least 6-9 months before bouncing, younger employees i.e., Millennials and gen Z, don’t have the same concerns about cutting the cord or jumping ship almost immediately. We’re calling this phenomenon, ‘Shift Shock.’”
More Employment And Tax Laws
Bjorn Reynolds is the CEO of workplace platform Safeguard Global, where he oversees more than 600 employees across 15 global offices. He said, “With more and more countries needing to account for a globalizing workforce in their tax and employment laws, this is likely a record we’ll see broken again year after year.
“If fast-changing international and local laws and regulations will keep HR and legal teams on their toes. I can’t even imagine the sleep lost by executives trying to navigate the complexity of international expansion without an expert partner to guide them,” Reynolds noted.
Greater Competition For Workers
Nicole Sahin, CEO and founder of employment platform Globalization Partners said, “In 2022, the competition to attract and retain top talent will get even more intense. If the ‘Great Resignation’ seen this year has taught us anything, it’s that power has shifted from employers to employees – millions of whom feel energized by the major trends impacting the world of work,” she observed.
“For example, the rise of the Digital Nomad (people who can work from anywhere) will continue to influence the working world. Representing just 7% of the workforce in 2019, by 2020, this group expanded six-fold to 42%. As a result, legacy job titles and siloed roles will be replaced by functions, mindsets, and skills which can be sourced from any country in the world. In addition, ‘remote-only’ teams will continue to become more common, and hierarchies will flatten,” she predicted
“This creates a huge opportunity but also a serious challenge to companies everywhere. A company’s foundation is based on the people it employs; those [who] want to survive and thrive in 2022 will need to respond to this new world dynamic,” Sahin concluded.
Benefits Will Be Expanded
Michele Johnson, MD, is the host of the Workplace Wellness podcast. She believed that, “In 2022, we will see an expansion of creative employee benefits. Following the “Great Resignation” of 2021, employers are seeking to retain employees.
“Everything from pet benefits, family care to homeownership assistance is now on the table. Employers are facing an acute labor shortage which may worsen in 2022 but money is not the only reason employees remain with a company.”
Acceptance And Adoption Of AI
Kamal Ahluwalia, president of talent acquisition and management platform Eightfold AI predicted that, “we will see HR professionals double down on the implementation of AI in HR to help engage and retain talent, laying out explicit, self-serviced career pathing and helping employees continue to grow without leaving their current organization. This investment is a key move for future-proofing any organization against long term challenges.
“In 2022, we’ll see more companies adopt the use of AI, including predictive analytics, automated mentorship pairing, cross and upskill recommendations and more to help employees and their mentors map careers that keep them within the company while also unleashing their full potential,” he said.
Streamlined Digital Offices
Dean Guida is the founder of Slingshot and CEO of Infragistics. He said that, “In 2022, companies will streamline their digital workplaces, reevaluating each and every tool to create a powerful digital workplace tech stack. Companies now know which tools work best—and which don’t work at all—to engage employees and power collaboration and productivity.
“As part of this process, we’ll also see companies gravitate to digital workplace tools that combine multiple capabilities—for instance, data dashboards, chat, content and task management—in one place. In this new digital workplace, the less time people spend app-switching, the more time they’ll spend being productive.”
Acceptance Of Virtual Reality
Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, a video collaboration technology company, predicted that virtual reality and the metaverse will come to the workplace. He said, “Our 2021 State of Remote Work survey showed that 56% of workers are interested in using virtual reality and holograms at work. In 2022, we’ll start to see the acceptance, and in some cases adoption of these kinds of immersive virtual experiences that bring employees together, regardless of whether they’re remote or in person.”
Diversity and Inclusiveness Will Be Emphasized
Jennifer Palecki is the chief people officer of Imply, a database analytics company. She predicted that, “In 2022, the importance of diverse and inclusive workplaces and the value they bring to innovation will come into even sharper focus. This is especially true for the technology industry, where we recognize the necessity of innovation for success.”
