Foreword & Contents

By Mark Cahill Managing Director

Foreword

The trends driving transformation in this new world are not new, but newly urgent.

2022 has the potential to be one of the most transformative years in recent history. As we enter the beginning of a post-pandemic reality, companies are realising they need to do more to attract and retain skilled, diverse workers and people are looking for more from their employers to thrive at work.

This has led to the emergence of what we are calling the Great Realisation – where both workers and companies are recognising the need for something new and different.

The post-pandemic recovery is unlike any we have ever seen. Demand for talent is at a record high, with our latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey showing +31% of employers looking to hire. In particular, this demand is being led in the Services, IT and Telecoms, Banking, and Hospitality sectors. Meanwhile, the talent shortage continues apace; nearly 7 in 10 employers report not being able to find the skills they need – a 15 year high. Shifting demographics including shrinking birth rates, reduced mobility across borders and the rise in early retirees means talent is scarce. With demand outweighing supply, candidates are firmly in the driving seat, and workers are now demanding more from their employers – prioritisation of wellbeing, flexibility, competitive pay, purpose and opportunities for skills development. Read more on this here.

The tech revolution is having a seismic impact as well, with investment in digitisation having accelerated as a result of the pandemic. As more organisations adopt new technologies and push forward with digital transformation initiatives, they will need to find the best balance of tech and talent to take their organisation to the next level, and spur growth, innovation and new value creation. This has created renewed urgency for employers to upskill and reskill their workforce for the jobs of the future, with both the emerging technical and soft human skills that are in high demand. We explore this trend further here.

In response to the rising skills scarcity, employers need to get even more creative in attracting, upskilling, reskilling and retaining valued workers.

DEIB has become more important than ever before – organisations will need to visibly action DEIB throughout their business as employees increasingly expect transparency around progress, not just pledges. The gender gap needs increased attention too – 51% of women are less optimistic about their career prospects than before the pandemic, with 57% saying they plan to leave their current job within two years.

In order to get women back into the workforce, access and availability of jobs and new opportunities in growth sectors are needed – especially in tech and other emerging sectors where women are under-represented. In addition, employers who provide greater workplace flexibility and choice will win when it comes to attracting more women to their organisations, and retaining the best and brightest. Explore further here.

But companies are making strides towards transformation. As the pandemic exposed weaknesses that many businesses may not have even known they had, companies are now increasingly experimenting with new workforce strategies and models to plug the gaps. Organisations are chasing increased sophistication – transforming and seeking nimbler operating models, more resilient supply chains, greener and more consolidated partners and solutions in response to heated competition, unpredictability and greater transparency. More on this here.

I’m delighted to share this latest edition of our Human Age publication, where we explore all the labour market trends contributing to the Great Realisation in detail. In addition, we share some of ManpowerGroup’s own initiatives and solutions for tackling the challenges of today’s world of work. From building the talent pool of the future with our MyPath scheme, to creating a Talent Sustainability Framework to build self-sustaining talent ecosystems, to becoming a Disability Confident Leader in our industry, we are committed to transforming our business for a post-pandemic world, while helping you do the same.

Mark Cahill
Managing Director, ManpowerGroup UK

Read on to discover what's in this edition

Power to the
people

Workers take centre
stage