The collapse of the employee market, a decrease in the number of economic migrants, accelerated automation, regulation of remote work and difficult contract renegotiation - these are the most important trends that employers and employees will face in 2021. The year ending mainly due to the coronavirus has brought many changes that have already left their mark on the labor market. We took them under a microscope to assess which of them may dominate the next year and which are only a temporary phenomenon.
Trend 1 - Remote work will take shape
The labor market in 2020 was marked by dynamic, often forced processes. One of them was the transition of some companies to remote work practically overnight. And although we passed this test very well, entrepreneurs and employees quickly began to notice the shortcomings of a continuous home office. For companies, the challenge is, among others, remote monitoring of work progress or adequate protection of company data. Employees, on the other hand, miss the team and often have problems separating their private and professional life. Nevertheless, remote work will stay with us for a longer time. Certainly, next year, most companies will operate in mixed mode. I also suspect that employees will report the need for, for example, additional costs, such as electricity consumption, more often than before.
The challenge in 2021 will be to regulate remote work and resolve disputed issues related to, inter alia, with participation of employers in costs, secondment to remote work or the issue of home office accidents.
Trend 2: The employee market will not become a thing of the past, but will slow down sharply
Recent years have accustomed us to the fact that it is the employees, especially the most specialized ones, who could dictate the conditions on the labor market. Employers competed for the best people, average wages went up, and employees were willing to switch to better-paid jobs. It seems that the collapse of certain market processes due to the pandemic, as well as the decreased sense of security it enforces, will slow down the so-called "Employee market". We are already seeing that fewer people decide to change jobs. Many employees will not risk as willingly as in times of prosperity. However, you cannot proclaim the "employer market". A good employee will still be a value in itself. Especially specialists will be able to count on many attractive offers.
Trends 3 - Online Recruitment
According to research conducted by the LinkedIn platform, as much as 81 percent. recruiters declare that they will maintain the form of remote recruitment also after the global COVID-19 pandemic, and even for 70 percent. of respondents, a completely virtual process has already become the new standard. Experts believe that the phenomenon in which a newly hired person first appears in the office only at the beginning of work will continue to spread. The pandemic and the accompanying sanitary regime were a catalyst for a previously noticeable trend, which, above all, allows for significant time savings for both parties involved.
Trend 4 - Artificial Intelligence
More and more companies around the world decide to use artificial intelligence algorithms to support individual stages or even the entire recruitment process. First of all, it is an opportunity to significantly reduce the time devoted to the individual assessment of applicants and to select only those candidates who best meet the formal requirements of the advertisement.
Trend 5 - Just -in-time
Just-in-time is a model for managing the company's production chain, which allows you to adjust the data of the company's branch to its current needs. This optimization method became especially popular during the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying economic freeze. In the case of just-in-time staff, it is a way to adjust the number of employees to the size of the project or the market situation. Thanks to popularizing platforms facilitating this employment model, the employer will find a new employee even within 24 hours when he is really needed.