What's Hot, What's Not!

What’s Hot, What’s Not!. By: Parinaz Nejatie MGT 5310.

What’s Hot!. Everyone is concerned about the habits and career trajectory of Millennials. Researchers are saying that this demographic has unique characteristics never seen before. Employers may find it helpful to understand that this demographic is more interested in work-life balance. Millennials place emphasis on collaborative environments and continuous feedback in a job..

Millennials: an assessment. E mployers need to pay more attention to types of jobs millennials are interested in, what their values and goals are. They are interested in unconventional career paths. Employers would benefit from giving this group more leeway in terms of: - the ability to work remotely -alternate pay structures that suit individual needs -creating a work environment that doesn’t have traditional/hierarchical structure.

What changed in 2021?. U nemployment is currently still high despite businesses opening up again and many industries are experiencing labor shortages. This is probably fueled by factors such as people rethinking their careers, going back to school, switching jobs to careers they envisioned post pandemic. People are adjusting their goals to meet holistic needs, something they couldn’t take the time to do before. HR must also morph to meet the dynamism of this cohort. Firms must realize that p ay structures are changing for many jobs that are now freelance as more people prefer to be more mobile/working remotely..

What Changed in 2021?. During the pandemic, remote work skills went on the rise. For this reason, many individuals have realized that they have gaps in their knowledge sets. The pandemic has given people the flexibility to take time to get training. Focus might be in finishing training, acquiring new skills, or attempting to totally switch out of an industry into a new one..

Employer’s Response. Employers are also adjusting and leveraging the events of the past year to amass data about employee skills. They can also now adjust their requirements for many positions based on this new information: -structural change to business to accommodate changing trends. -rising trends in “consumerization” of the workplace (employees are more like customers because they look for “a specific employment experience that empowers them to make their own choices”.) -they aim t o continuously gain new skills to contribute to the company..

What is NOT!. Many academics in HR thought that unionization would fade away in the workplace as other modes of attaining equity in the workforce took hold. Many thought that through legislation or firms advocating for employees of their own volition, striking/unionization was a relic of the past. In the past year or so, we have seen a surge in level of unionization. Strikes have started in many Amazon warehouses, Kellogs plants, and other companies..

Strikes on the Rise. The pandemic is responsible for the surge – the change in workers situations and new highs in profits for many of these affected companies has seen workers walking off the job. -amidst this furor, Starbucks bumped up its minimum wage to $15/hour in order to staunch the flow towards unionization -John Deere workers went on strike on Oct 14, 2021, to protest low wages and lack of job security. -taxi drivers in NY staged a hunger strike to get more Medallion Debt relief..