August 2021 Newsletter
August 2021 Newsletter
“The Great Resignation”!
Media Hype or a Great time to Acquire Top Talent?
Anyone involved in Talent Acquisition, Talent Management and the retention of Talent would have seen the term “The Great Resignation” (phrase coined by Professor Anthony Klotz) which outlines the post-pandemic era in work-life balance being demanded by employees.
Some would say that “The Great Resignation” is media frenzy hype. However, here at Proxime during the last month we have spoken with more candidates looking to leave their employers than anytime during the last 18 months, and through a recent poll conducted by us via Linkedin, 72% of voters said that “The Great Resignation” is real and is “happening!”
Reasons for the surge in leaving current employers post-pandemic era include:
- Employers not prepared to introduce a “hybrid” working pattern
- Employees not prepared to spend the time to commute.
- Employers not investing in mental health awareness programs for their employees.
- Employees not happy with the way they were treated during the pandemic but stayed due to uncertainty in the job market.
- Firms not investing in a digital transformation, so no career progression.
- Employees looking for a more diverse and culturally balanced working environment.
So how can “The Great Resignation” benefit your firm? Due to the high quality of professionals Proxime are engaging with, there are excellent IT, Cyber IT Security & IT Sales skills available across all platforms and seniority, so let’s connect and start the exciting process of together getting this skills on board.
We look forward to working with you!
David Gadd
Director of Talent Acquisition – Cyber IT Security.
Certified: AgilePM®, ISO/IEC 27001, Blockchain – Oxford Uni, Mental Health First Aider.
| “Pingdemic” Worsens Staff Shortages for U.K. Employers |
U.K. businesses are reporting record confidence but struggling to hire staff, with coronavirus self-isolation rules contributing to severe labor shortages, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.
The report published Wednesday is the latest to warn of the potential threat to the recovery from workers forced to stay at home after being “pinged” by the National Health Service Covid-19 tracing app amid a new wave of infections.
The disruption, together with a reluctance among workers to change jobs in the wake of the pandemic, is causing “serious staff shortages” and forcing companies to improve pay and other benefits as the economy gets back to normal.
“Recruiters are working harder than ever to hire the right people for the right roles,” said Kate Shoesmith, deputy chief executive officer of the REC. The Savanta ComRes survey of 600 employers from April 1 to June 30 found:
- Employer confidence about hiring and investing was at its highest since the report began in 2016; sentiment about the economy as a whole improved further
- A third of respondents said they were struggling to encourage people to change jobs
- An inability to offer competitive salaries was widely cited
- Employers sought to bring in more temporary staff to help them navigate the “fluid nature” of the pandemic
Wage pressures will be one of the factors under discussion when Bank of England officials meet to set monetary policy next week. Pay increases risk making higher inflation more entrenched, though Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent says that labor shortages are likely to ease as government wage support for furloughed workers is phased out.
Full article from Bloomberg here.
What Is The Great Resignation & How Will This Affect Job Seekers?
There has been a major, unexpected shift in the workplace that has left everyone scratching their heads. After a year filled with shutdowns, economic uncertainty and record-breaking unemployment levels, a massive change took place that no one could have anticipated: People are quitting their jobs.
The Labor Department estimated that a record 4 million people decided to leave their jobs in April of this year alone, placing job vacancies at a 20-year high. And here is the kicker: no one wants to fill them! Dubbed “The Great Resignation,” we are in unchartered territory. Here is what is happening and why:
2020 was tumultuous. Across the globe, individuals feared for their health, financial well-being and future. People used this time to assess where they were and where they wanted to be. The flexibility provided through remote schedules (and paid unemployment) proved to be a valuable part of that.
The trouble is, once everything started to reopen and “normalcy” resumed, businesses had expected employees to jump back on the 9-5 bandwagon, picking up where they left off before the world seemingly closed its doors. Employees, feeling emboldened, decided they had better things to do.
No longer burdened with a long commute or the daily office grind, employees finally had the time needed to reflect. Some loved working from home so much they vowed never to set foot in the office again. Others realized they hated their jobs and wanted to do something that ignited them.
After a year of being so worried about their lives (figuratively and literally), can you blame them? This new season is a fresh start. People refuse to pick up where they were. Instead, they are going to pick up and take off to where they want to be.
Where do we go from here?
I believe that people pursuing their passions and demanding better working conditions is a positive for employees and employers alike. I also think that such demands are long overdue, as wages have been stagnant for quite some time. I do, however, have some concerns.
People have been able to save money over the past year between stay-at-home orders, stimulus checks, unemployment and, at times, some severance pay. While this is all well and good, these funds will not last forever. If employees do not find jobs that suit them, and money runs dry, people may find themselves in a desperate situation — and then employed at jobs that were worse than what they had before. So, as you search, I encourage you to be balanced with your approach.
And, if you are an employer, please know that people want to work, but they want to do so under different conditions. Andy Warhol is often credited with saying, “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” The time is now.
Full article from Forbes here.
