There are many challenges and obstacles facing employers today. From labor force shortages, pandemic challenges and safety measures, workforce participation rates, employee poaching, and countless other issues, HR departments have their handful right now trying to obtain and retain talent for businesses. But, with every challenge, there’s an opportunity to be seized, but before we get into that, let’s discuss the current interpretations of workplace flexibility.
Flexibility as Necessity
Let’s take it back to the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic. When safety ordinances were implemented, as the world governments understood the virus would not disappear, businesses had to be agile, fluid, and flexible with their workforce. What was a novel convenience and benefit for some employees, the ability to work from home, became a must-do for businesses to continue operations—companies needed to meet the safety demands of local governments and their employees.
The pandemic became a catalyst for massive change in the work environment around the globe. The experiment to determine whether employees could work from home, full-time, productively had to be launched. Adapt or die. The global workforce answered the question with a resounding yes; employees can work productively from home, if not more productively, in some cases. But where do we go from here?
Workplace Flexibility as The New Standard
After a year of most workers living and working at home, COVID-19 vaccinations became available to a majority of the public in the Spring of 2021, and people began returning to the office for work. Still, for many employees, the flexibility offered was not something they were willing to give up easily.
In a “return to the workplace” study produced by Envoy, 47% of all 1000 workers surveyed said they would look for another job if their employer didn’t offer flexibility to work from a location of their choosing.
In a massive annual study conducted by ADP Research Institute®, 32,000 employees across the globe in all different industries answered questions about post-pandemic priorities with their jobs, and flexibility/work-life balance is right at the top of the list. With the ADPRI’s collected data, it’s understood that 64% of employees surveyed said they would also look for an alternative workplace where they were required to return to the office full-time. Beyond that shocking number, the surveyed employees felt strongly about flexibility with work hours and the location. Of the parents surveyed, 74% said they would like to arrange working hours to be more flexible, followed closely by 68% of non-parents.
For most of the modern workforce across the globe, flexibility means optional in-office attendance and an agile workday schedule. With the current labor shortage, employers will have to take these employee desires seriously if they wish to retain or attract top-tier talent.
Flexibility as An Opportunity
As we had noted at the beginning of this piece, challenges breed opportunities. For employers, there’s a moment at hand to capitalize on – businesses can seize the attention of job seekers looking for flexibility in their careers. With flexibility being top-of-mind for the vast majority of job seekers, why would any employer be reticent to share their company perks and benefits regarding flexibility? No, they should make their stance on flexibility known right from the start, and that can be accomplished by highlighting flexibility directly within a job post.
At Jobiak, our teams have worked for years to create proprietary technologies that help online job posts rank higher and attract a higher flow of interested candidates. Job data should be presented to prospects with all the information needed within the original post, including how a business culture observes the new normals of work flexibility.
Click to learn more about our online recruitment technology and how optimized job data can improve successful hiring practices.
