"Catch the Talent" Is 'Mass Resignation' the Biggest Management Risk This Year? [Jjinbit]

(Photo source = Pixabay)

"Improving the work environment in ways that do not meet employees' expectations will negatively impact the recruitment and retention of talented personnel." - Amazon

"Competitors in the tech talent market are trying to hire our employees, and the expansion of remote work accelerated by COVID-19 has intensified and broadened this competition." - Intel

Everyone knows that a good work environment is a key factor in securing talented personnel, right? Recently, Amazon and Intel in the U.S. included these points in their annual reports. Usually, companies list global supply chain or market changes as risks, but this is the first time they have mentioned talent acquisition issues due to the work environment as a risk in their reports.

This indicates that securing talent and improving the work environment, especially creating flexible work environments experienced during COVID-19, have become core topics for management at this point.

Employees Become 'Bosses' Amid Labor Shortage... Management Feels Uneasy

This atmosphere is also detected in a survey conducted by market research firm Gartner in the fourth quarter of last year, targeting 254 senior executives. According to the results, they identified talent recruitment as the biggest risk emerging this year. They viewed it as a greater risk than supply chain issues or inflation pressures. They were concerned about failing to provide a work environment that meets employees' expectations in the post-pandemic era. Especially, they saw this issue as an urgent one to occur within a year.

(Photo source = Pixabay)

The reason executives are anxious is that due to the labor shortage, job seekers are demanding higher allowances and salaries and can choose workplaces that offer their desired work environment, leading to what is called the "Great Resignation" era. Last year, job postings and turnover rates in the U.S. reached record highs. Fiona Sinkota, senior analyst at financial services company Citi Index, told Bloomberg News, "Power has shifted to employees," adding, "The labor market situation has become difficult, allowing them to gain the upper hand."

Matt Sinkman, vice president at Gartner, said, "The risk of recruiting talented personnel is a problem that manifests due to various underlying causes, which is why executives are particularly concerned," but also noted, "Talent risk has the positive aspect of being directly addressable compared to other types of risks." He suggested that offering flexible work styles such as remote or hybrid work is a way to secure competitive talent.

Ultimately, What They Want Is 'Flexible Work'

(Photo source = Pixabay)

In this atmosphere, management has realized that creating a flexible work environment is important to retain current employees and recruit talented new ones. Video meetings have become the norm instead of face-to-face meetings, and balancing childcare and work at home has become everyday life. After experiencing remote work, commuting daily to the office and enduring 1-2 hours of traffic congestion has become difficult. Also, hybrid work, which appropriately mixes remote and office work, has been judged to improve work productivity.

Because of this situation, as the COVID-19 situation seems to be winding down, corporate executives are contemplating when to bring employees back to the office, but they are deeply concerned. According to a report by Future Forum, a consortium operated by Slack Technologies, a survey of 10,000 knowledge workers in November last year found that 95% wanted flexibility in working hours, and 78% desired flexibility in work location. Moreover, 72% of respondents said they would look for a new job this year if flexibility in working hours or location was not guaranteed.

This shows how important a flexible work environment is. This is why executives identified talent acquisition as the greatest risk.

(Photo source = Pixabay)

According to LinkedIn, the world's largest job search social networking service, employees at companies with flexible working hours and locations are 2.6 times more satisfied than those at companies without such flexibility. So much so that after seeing the safe and comfortable environment of remote work, blue-collar workers working on-site in factories in the U.S. tried to move to white-collar jobs, and research shows that 4 out of 5 who attempted this succeeded. Although there are criticisms that remote and hybrid work cause issues in separating home and office and in communication among employees, it seems the positive aspects are being accepted more strongly.

With the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of the MZ generation, the demand for work-life balance (WLB) and fair compensation has increased significantly compared to before. Flexible work environments seem to have become a core element of work innovation that meets employees' expectations and enhances productivity.

Editor's Note[Jjinbit] is short for 'Jung Hyunjin's Business Trend' and 'Real Business Trend,' a corner that shows trends in corporate management such as organizational culture and HR systems. The emergence of the MZ generation, the expansion of remote work due to COVID-19, and digital innovation all require innovation in organizational culture. Based on analyses from major overseas institutions that have not received much attention so far, we will deliver fresh and differentiated information and perspectives.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.