There is a lot going on in the workplace, no matter what industry you cover. Let’s talk about some of the workplace trends that are predicted for this year and the ones we are already starting to see.
Remote work
Thousands of federal workers returned to their offices last week under a new executive order ending remote work, even though some workplaces weren’t completely prepared for their return. For example, at the Washington Navy Yard, 17,000 employees were expected to report to work despite the complex only having 4,400 parking spaces available.
Even though some companies may have changed their mind about remote work, employees have not. Almost half of workers state they would rather quit their jobs than return to an office full-time and many view hybrid work as valuable as an 8% raise. Companies that are supportive of remote work are more likely to have low turnover rates compared to companies that don’t. Evidence has also shown that remote work is beneficial not only to employees but companies and society at large.
Despite all that, a handful of large companies, including Amazon, Boeing, and UPS, are once more attempting to bring their workers back to the office full-time after years of remote work. That doesn’t really add up, does it? But, maybe that’s the point. A recent study found that return-to-office mandates were more likely a way to “scapegoat” poor company performance than attributable to the belief that working in the office increased productivity. It may also be a way for companies to indirectly force employees to quit, resulting in a reduced workforce without having explicit layoffs.
Forced to quit
In an op-ed in November, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy wrote, “Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.” Alongside the return-to-office federal mandate, a buyout offer was extended to all federal employees for eight months of pay and benefits should they immediately resign. The White House projected that 5-10% of employees would accept the offer. By the deadline, about 75,000 federal employees accepted the buyout – representing 3.3% of the 2.3 million workers.
Even though the buyout is for eight months of pay, some workers were warned not to trust the deal as the federal government is not funded beyond March 14, and there is no guarantee that the offer can’t be rescinded later. This has left many workers confused and raised questions about what is next for federal employees in this new administration.
Other companies, such as Cox Communications and General Motors, have also offered employees buyouts as a first move in restructuring.
Other trends to look out for
Old and continuing trends are also still transforming the workforce. For example, artificial intelligence use has been continuously evolving in the workplace and is likely to become a standard component of workplace education moving forward.
In the past few years, the phrase “quiet-quitting” has been continuously popping up in headlines, but some new, related phrases have hit the headlines, such as “soft-quitting” and “revenge-quitting.” Revenge-quitting, in particular, is interesting in that it doesn’t involve doing the bare minimum, but rather quitting abruptly, particularly at an inconvenient time for the employer, to make a statement. Quitting abruptly can be a form of protest or self-preservation in response to unkept promises, toxic workplace dynamics, or a lack of recognition and growth opportunities.
Whatever the trend may be, the past few years have made it clear that employees are putting themselves in the driver’s seat and it’s time for employers to get on board if they want to retain the best talent.
