Some of these trends existed before 2021, but now they are particularly noticeable and may permanently change our work habits.

Skills Increase

Finding a job isn’t easy with so much competition. Unfortunately, given the high demand for skills, 2021 won’t bring much improvement.

According to research by Gartner, 64% of HR managers don’t believe current employees can keep pace with future skill needs. That means that when new people are hired, they are expected to already have these skills to avoid repeating the problem. It’s far easier to bring in new employees who already have these abilities at their disposal rather than trying to reskill them with the rest of the workforce.

Remote Working

Already a growing working experience before the pandemic, 2020 saw a significant increase in remote working as people tried to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This has continued into 2021, with millions still doing their jobs from home. The thing is, even when the virus becomes a thing of the past, many employees will still be working from the comfort of their sofas.

Remote work is here to stay, with plenty of jobs now advertised on platforms like Recamov. Here, you can find remote jobs that are well-paid and offer excellent experience, all without you having to leave your home. Such positions are ideal for anyone who enjoys the freedom of working outside of the office or who may be homebound for medical or disability reasons.

Flexible Working

In a way, this is an extension of remote working. However, on top of employees being able to work where they want, there’s also a growing trend in people being able to work when they want.

It seems that staff are gaining the working experience of more freedom to fit their jobs around their personal lives, rather than the other way around. Although it’s unlikely that standard 9-5 businesses will ever allow staff to do all their hours in the middle of the night, flexibility is already a big thing in 2021. With the remote working set becoming pretty commonplace post-pandemic, flexibility will likely go hand-in-hand with this to ensure that employees get to work when it suits them best.

Mental Health Support

It used to be that if you had mental health struggles, you couldn’t resolve your issues without it having a significant impact on your job. Thankfully, times are changing, and employers are becoming more accepting of such difficulties, providing staff with increasing support to help them get better.

There’s still a long way to go before such support is at the level it should be. However, the pandemic’s impact has prompted many businesses to realise just how essential it is to look after employee mental health. Nearly 13% of workplace absences were tied to mental health before COVID-19, and employers risk seeing this statistic increase without changing their ways. That’s not what anyone wants when the current situation is already making life challenging for many businesses.

Every year, businesses and employees see a lot of ups and downs. With rapid growth gaining momentum and still having such a significant impact on everything, things aren’t likely to change anytime soon, so these trends are here to stay.

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As an experienced business and finance writer I understand the corporate landscape and the driving forces behind it. Over the years I’ve shared my insight and knowledge with key industry publications and dedicated my time to showing how business leaders can make their organisations more effective.