Part one

Understanding the post-pandemic \talent challenge

Part one

Understanding the post-pandemic talent challenge

In 2021, we highlighted that a quarter of US workers planned on looking for a new job when the threat of the pandemic decreased. That intent has played out over the past year in employers’ experiences of the Great Resignation.

Our 2022 survey reveals that organizations are still grappling with an acute talent challenge.

Talent gaps and capability shortfalls

We asked executives to identify the top talent challenges they face. There are widespread concerns about shortages of critical skills in the market and the high churn rate among employees. Yet the number one barrier to companies accessing the talent they need (alongside a lack of skills in the market) is a poor ability to hire contingent talent, which indicates that businesses increasingly need to be able to rapidly recruit the skills they need on a non-permanent basis.

Figure 2: Poor ability to hire contingent talent is a top talent barrier

[Base size: 1,000]

Rising employee expectations

For many employers, there is a growing sense that employee expectations have changed fundamentally since the pandemic – this view is held by 37% of the executives surveyed (and 42% of the Vanguards). This is driving recognition of a need to redesign the employee experience within the next five years.

Employees now want a better work-life balance. We’re particularly seeing that with the Millennial generation.

Cherice Schmidt
Vice President - Global RPO Operations and Delivery Leader, KellyOCG

For many, that has already started. 38% of Vanguards are rethinking leadership skills (vs 23% of non-Vanguard firms), while 51% of Vanguards report that leaders and employees are already re-inventing work together, to create a future that works for all (vs just 33% of non-Vanguards).

Figure 3: Vanguard firms are more likely to say they are “reinventing work” with their employees

[Base size: Vanguards = 149; Rest of sample = 851]

Leaders – the next wave of resignations?

For the 2022 survey, we asked leaders about their own situations. The results paint an unsettling picture.

Overall, 13% are currently looking for a role in a different organization. Fewer than half are happy in their current role (38%), and less than a third say they plan to stay with their current employer for at least two years (27% overall).

Split the data between the Vanguards and the rest, and a clear gap emerges. Among Vanguards’ executives, 61% say they are happy, compared with 38% among the rest; 37% plan to stay at least two years (vs 27%), and only 5% are job hunting (vs 13%).

The data also shows that mental wellbeing is a concern. In non-Vanguard companies, only 26% agree that their employer cares about their mental health, compared with 40% in Vanguard companies.

Figure 4: Executives that work in Vanguard firms are happier in their role and plan to stay for longer

[Base size: Vanguards = 149; Rest of sample = 851]

Is hybrid working?

Surprisingly, despite the worldwide experiment in remote working during the pandemic, just 41% of executives in Vanguards and 30% in non-Vanguards say their organization promotes flexible or hybrid options.

Fewer than half have definitive plans for returning employees to the physical workplace (35%). About one in five are in favor of mandating a “hard return” (20%), though 28% think the complexity of hybrid will eventually drive a requirement for most employees to come back on-site.

Given the demand for life-work flexibility, organizations need to adopt an approach to hybrid working that satisfies both business needs and the desires of their employees over the long term. Yet our data suggests that the majority of firms are some way from achieving this.

If you just decide not to participate in hybrid, you are leaving talent on the table in this market.

Crystal Lannaman
BASF

How do executives assess the impact of hybrid working on company cultures? Overall, more view it as positive for organizational culture than negative. But there are indications of unintended consequences: a significant number say that in-office employees are perceived as higher performers than remote/hybrid employees, and are more likely to be promoted. That risks creating division and undermining DEI efforts.

Figure 5: More than a quarter of executives believe in-office workers are perceived as higher performers

[Base size: Vanguards = 149; Rest of sample = 851]

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