It’s An Employees Market

But What Does That Mean For Employers?

COVID-19 has changed all the rules, especially for employees. No longer married to the commute or the in-person meetings, the baton is now in the hand of the candidate rather than the employer. But now that Ireland is slowly returning to normal, following the announcement by An Taoiseach that COVID-19 restrictions are veritably over, we’ve pinpointed what this brand new world means for employers and how this new mode of work can benefit everybody.

Mention hybrid working and a few things will happen; people will sigh, people will sing and the rest of the room will, in their head, automatically hear the Zoom signup sound. Two years into a pandemic, the room is still divided in terms of whether a hybrid structure of working from home and the office actually works. While early reports say that productivity and employee satisfaction is higher, many claim that flexibility leads to poorer productivity and increased team-member stress as they bounce from Zoom call to Zoom call.

Some employees are obviously reluctant to return to the office. Travel costs, time wasted commuting and child care responsibilities are all easier to control when you don’t have to leave your house. Jobs are currently in abundance, meaning that if an employee doesn’t want to go into the office for work, they can simply apply for a role that promotes remote working.

A Mass Exodus

Word spread about the idea of a ‘Great Resignation’ back when COVID-19 lockdowns first began. In the US, some 4.4 million people resigned in September, causing employers internationally to panic, but according to industry experts, they needn’t have. Employment and participation in the Irish labour market have never been higher, according to the most up-to-date data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). 2.47 million people, in fact, were classified as employed in the State in the third quarter of 2021, the highest level of employment on record.

However, it’s worth noting that resignations did occur. Two groups of employees were largely affected by the lockdown and subsequent re-openings of society; the blue-collar workforce, now termed low-skill/high-touch work. This group includes retail, warehousing and supply chain. It was marred by lockdowns mainly by way of emigration, as many workers who did do these jobs emigrated from other countries to seek work and returned to those countries to be with family when COVID hit. As a result, there is an extreme shortage of people to fill those roles.

Where white-collar employees (high-skills/low-touch) changed roles it tended to be for personal reasons including lifestyle and salary.

Childcare

The issue of childcare is also on the table for employees. Anecdotal evidence tells us that women are burdened with both household and work commitments when working from home, but now, in the first survey results and statistics of its kind, the female participation rate (a measure of the economy’s active workforce, i.e. those working and those seeking work) is higher than ever at 59.8% compared with 2019’s 56.5%, according to the Irish Times. It appears to suggest that the shift to remote working facilitates women on a greater scale, aiding their contribution to the workplace.

Employee fatigue

The CSO numbers also indicate that the general participation rate in the third quarter of last year was 65.1%, the highest on record at that time, beating the pre-COVID Q4, 2019. This confirms that more people are either working or looking for work. Some are doing both, realising the joy in flexibility and opting to change the way they work, often by becoming self-employed or kick-starting that side hustle they have always dreamt of. It’s something that only happens when the market allows, as proven by the endless freelancers in the world at the minute. Workers are now considering not only where they work but what they really want from their career – as opposed to leaving the workforce entirely.

Organisational fatigue

The pandemic wrote a new chapter in the book of employee wellbeing, but interestingly, there has been much less focus on the wellbeing of organisations and the consumers they serve. This summer saw half a million driving licences delayed in the UK when public sector staff went on strike after being asked to return to the office and, in September, 50,000 lorry and bus drivers still awaited these licences which are critical to the economy and consumers.

In the private sector, employers worry about the removal of the social aspect of work because of remote working. It’s understandable, without a social contract with work, it’s just spreadsheets and complex management structures. Hence the desire to commit to hybrid-working and the casual interactions, flexibility and sense of belonging and mentoring that allow for employees to feel like people rather than numbers. There is also the question and concern around career progression and development when you remove the physical interaction with heads of departments.

Salary scales

Conventional wisdom suggests that people will want to travel and seize opportunities when the pandemic is over. And as companies ask employees to show their allegiance, many will focus on their salary. The first lockdown, back in March, saw some large salary premiums offered following hiring freezes as employers tried to decipher what was going on. By then, goalposts had shifted.

Employer marketing

Another thing worth considering in the current market is the requirement for employers to market themselves better to prospective employees. No longer will an advert on a jobs board or in the newspaper alone cut the mustard. Many more job seekers are now asking about workplace culture, their career roadmap, your stance on environmental issues, hybrid working etc. Employers are working harder than ever on candidate attraction and employee retention.

So what’s next?

The next big challenge ahead of us, of course, will be the return to the office. An essential aspect of the working day, anyone would agree. Perhaps larger locations can be squeezed into smaller spaces, but if the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that the sociality and in-person nature of office life were sorely missed. It remains among the thorniest of thoughts in everyone’s minds, but if we have navigated two years of pandemic madness, returning to shared office fridges and face-to-face meetings should be manageable – once we tread softly, and keep the disinfectant within reach.

Financial advisor to the Irish community pharmacy sector, food & beverage, SME and retail.

We at Fitzgerald Power have spent thirty years offering creative solutions to a diverse range of clients across Ireland, the UK and Europe, and we’re pretty proud of what we’ve helped our clients to achieve. We enable and empower businesses to reach any and every goal. Whatever the job, we don’t offer anything less than the best. We work across a range of sectors, including pharmacy, food & beverage, SME and retail. Please get in touch today if you would like to speak to any of our experts.

Further Articles

How veganism is revolutionising the food industry

We’re in a protein substitute revolution, or so the experts say. With health and…

Read Blog

How Irish retailers are doing globally – and how you can up your game

Even before COVID-19, it was becoming increasingly clear that physical shop-based retailing was struggling…

Read Blog