Wearing a t-shirt on a conference call or a hoodie at Google’s office is the new normal. The business dress code is becoming more casual and flexible to highlight our skills and performance but is still imbued with a fashion sense. Where are these trends coming from, and how should managers respond?

The Tech Industry Pioneering Casual Attire

Big companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook are famous for their casual office attire. Dressed in hoodies and jeans, the employees behind Sundar Pichai, Evan Williams and Mark Zuckerburg are headlining fashion trends in the tech industry.

While the “dress to impress” mantra is still valid, changes in dress codes prove that it’s not all about the looks. Intellect and performance are more important in business nowadays, especially in the digital-first ambience, as the tech giants demonstrate.

After the casual dress code revolutionized the tech industry, it also caught up with the booming landscape of start-ups. During the rise of start-up culture, many small businesses quickly grew to become corporate giants in an informal atmosphere.

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Other Industries Embracing the Casual Dress Code

Now, other industries are chiming in on the trend too.

“Dress codes in the finance sector have historically had the most conservative, formal standards, and even those are changing,” said New York-based alumna for Goldman Sachs Jessica Cadmus, who works as a stylist in the corporate world.

In 2019, Goldman Sachs published a memo announcing a shift towards “a more casual environment,” and they’re not the only ones. Morgan Stanley and other investment banks are also embracing the change.

Other industries are also driving change. The British airline Virgin Atlantic also relaxed its dress code by allowing flight attendants to wear pants and not forcing them to put make-up on so that they have “an increased level of comfort” and “more choice” to express individuality. The retail world is following suit: Target, for example, now allows employees to wear blue jeans every day at work.

Gen Z Is Shaping the New Business Dress Code

The emerging cohort of workers is the tech-savvy and fashion-forward Gen Z. As such, businesses are adapting their corporate dress codes to attract top talent from the young generation.

The new dress code is dictated by the latest trends in menswear, taking a more flexible approach. That means that knitwear will dominate the office style during sweater weather. Wider cuts, belted overcoats, and men’s loafers are the top fashion and shoe trends for this autumn, so expect to see them around the office.

Changing the Dress Code Reflects Changing Mindsets

While the shift in the business dress code is evident, even in historically rigid industries such as finance, some employers have clung to formalwear in the workplace.

Just like hiring managers would enlist the desired skills and requirements in a job advert and recruiters would prepare their clients, talking about the new dress code can help put everyone on the same page, especially employers.

If you’re a recruiter, you may have clients who insist on finding a candidate that fits their outdated dress code. But they could miss out on innovative talent by judging them based on their outfit. In that case, it’s your job to take them through the new business code and the benefits of adopting it. Bring the stats in: studies show that 61% of employees are more productive when they have a relaxed dress code. Show them some candidates that don’t fit the current dress code but have the perfect skillset. You’re the expert, and they’ve hired you for a reason, so bring that expertise to bear.

As part of adapting to the hybrid working environment, it’s important to start reworking our collective mindset around the new business dress code and other changes that come with that. Mastering this can help position us better in the evolved business landscape.

The shift towards a more casual dress code is accelerating as employees are looking to embrace comfort and individuality. A more flexible work attire means a happier workforce, better productivity, and more gains for the company.

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“The return-to-office battle will resume after Labor Day.”

“Workers face pressure as top companies push post–Labor Day return to office.”

“Battle over return to office heats up as bosses lose patience.”

“Return-to-office deadline after Labor Day sets up showdown.”

Whether “battle” or “showdown” prove to be accurate or exaggerated descriptions of how things actually transpire remains to be seen.

Either way, those descriptions — and the stories they’re part of — reflect the reality that return-to-office plans can quickly cause employer-employee relations to become difficult at best and adversarial at worst. While either of these outcomes is problematic, the issue becomes even more toxic if it contributes to an overall deterioration of the relationship between a company and its people.

So, what can a company do? It begins with transparency. Regular communication and meaningful conversations with employees can go a long way in fostering understanding about the decision and alleviating some of the concerns.

Here’s what our firm did. We adopted a trial hybrid work-from-home program in February of this year and closely monitored key data points across the next several months. We determined in recent weeks that modifications were necessary.

While the flexibility and other benefits of the policy remain important, we saw a couple of trends emerge following the program’s implementation. We decided the best course of action was to bring people back to our offices four days a week beginning September 6.

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In communicating the revised policy to employees, we shared data points that led to our decision. Beyond our own results-oriented metrics, we also provided important context about factors beyond our control that impact our business and which employees might not have considered.

For example, we discussed how inflationary pressures caused our costs to rise by approximately 20-25%. This is important background information, as employees often don’t fully understand the external stresses that companies are under. Similarly, employees need to know what companies are doing in response (in our case, implementing price adjustments and updating our hybrid work policy).

We learn the most when we encourage our teams to share their experiences, so our leadership spent a lot of time over the past month listening to employees. We asked questions designed to foster a meaningful conversation: How are you feeling? What’s on your mind? How is your work-life balance? Are you still committed to the company?

I also shared in a companywide email my sincere belief in the value of the energy, knowledge and training that come from everyone working together in an office. Being together also provides a number of benefits to our business overall and to the professional growth and development of our employees. Going forward, we’ll focus more than ever on engaging with employees and demonstrating our commitment to their success.

The reality is, no policy about where and when work gets done — in-office, remote or hybrid — is going to make everyone happy. Employers know people have choices about where to work and should be prepared for at least some level of attrition because of their policies.

By regularly providing transparent communications and holding meaningful conversations, your company will be well positioned to garner the type of support and loyalty needed to keep and grow your employees.

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Here are five ways that firms are leveraging automation that you can employ to address today’s challenges.

Leave repetitive tasks to your technology. Automation is great for the simple, repetitive tasks that eat up recruiters’ valuable time. A great starting point for firms considering automation is using it for simple tasks like leaving notes in the applicant tracking system (ATS), creating calendar appointments and sending internal reminders. This frees up time for recruiters to focus on tasks that add real value, such as nurturing client and candidate relationships.

Increasingly intelligent recruitment tools are also capable of more complex tasks, such as recommending candidates for jobs (and jobs for candidates). Tools with artificial intelligence capabilities can review details on candidates in an instant, providing recruiters with valuable recommendations. This is particularly useful for temp or contingent workers, as it can cut redeployment time.

Keep your talent engaged. According to Bullhorn’s recent survey of 2,000 candidates, poor communication is the top reason that talent became frustrated with the recruiting process. The good news is that automation can help. Many of the routine interactions in the recruiting process, such as updating a candidate on their application’s progress, are ideal for automation.

Keeping candidates in the loop without communications feeling robotic depends on a tightly integrated tech stack. The system must be able to collate information from across channels to accurately personalize the messages and deliver them both at the right time and on the right channel.

This technology is also useful for reaching out to candidates at other important points, such as when they are approaching the end of their contract. These interactions maintain a relationship and ensure that the recruiter will be top of mind when the candidate starts looking for a new job.

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Take the friction out of onboarding. Many recruitment firms are already using automation to fill out paperwork and complete other important onboarding tasks. This is particularly valuable for firms that work with several industries, as the system can automatically account for differing policies on topics like pay, benefits, harassment and more. This same logic applies to firms that work across multiple countries, where employment laws may be different. The result is a fast turnaround and the elimination of potentially costly back-office mistakes.

Declutter your ATS. Manually organizing the ATS is a time-consuming task that frequently winds up at the bottom of the to-do list. However, keeping a recruitment agency’s data in good working order is fundamental to its success.

Streamlining data management is a natural fit for automation. An automated system can comb through records in a fraction of the time it would take a person and identify outdated entries, duplicates, people without contact information and records with no recent activity, all without the risk of human error. It can even update job, company and contract status automatically.

However, this is only possible when data can flow freely between systems, so recruiters must ensure that their ATS is correctly integrated with the other tools and platforms they use before pursuing automation. Further, as with any technology that involves data on people, businesses must be aware of the regulatory restrictions. Most modern automation solutions are compliant with data protection and privacy laws when used properly, but it is a firm’s responsibility to ensure that all processing activities are legal.

Scale your marketing with your business. Reaching out to candidates and clients across channels is another task that is ripe for automation. The technology can automatically personalize the content to ensure that it is relevant and applicable to each audience across different channels like web, mobile, email and social. To target contacts with tailored content, recruiters can define segments and lists for the marketing workflow.

At every step, the system provides in-depth data for recruiters or the sales team to review and refine their approach. Stats to keep an eye on are engagement score, pipeline revenue and the new lead close rate.

Automation isn’t some faraway possibility for the recruitment industry. It’s already helping many recruitment firms to thrive in a challenging environment, and those that haven’t adopted it will quite soon be in the minority.

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So what is happening with layoffs ?

Late last month, Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, announced it was laying off some 20% of its workforce — more than 1,200 employees, CNN reported.

The interesting phenomenon is that while layoffs are bad news all around, demand for IT talent remains strong. Take H-1B visas.

One indicator of the strong demand came on Aug. 23, when US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it had received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B regular visa cap and the 20,000 H-1B US advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap, for federal fiscal year 2023.

According to uscis.gov, H-1B is a nonimmigrant classification that allows people who are not US citizens to work in the States in positions that require a degree of high-level specialty knowledge. Previously, the USCIS had announced it received 483,927 H-1B registrations in March for federal fiscal year 2023, up from 308,613 in fiscal year 2022.

“It really reflects the extraordinarily level of demand for talent,” said Mark Roberts, CEO of the TechServe Alliance. He noted the number of registrations is up 57% year over year.

One note on the process: The initial electronic registration selection process was completed in March, and the USCIS conducted a random lottery to select the 127,600 registrations it estimated would be needed to meet the visa cap. The Society for Human Resource Management reported the USCIS selects more petitions than needed to fill the cap to account for employers who don’t follow through on the petition process as well as cases that are denied or withdrawn.

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H-1Bs aside, other indicators also point to strong demand for tech talent.

“Many IT consultants that work through IT staffing companies are still receiving multiple offers,” Roberts said. “Despite a few stories of layoffs and hiring freezes among some high-profile tech companies, overall demand for technical talent still significantly outstrips supply. So even if there is some slackening of demand in a particular industry, there are other sectors that will gladly absorb those IT professionals.”

The unemployment rate in IT (as of end of Q2) was approximately 2%. And the TechServe Alliance’s IT index shows overall IT employment has remained flat for the past year because of a lack of supply.

Our research at SIA shows growth in IT staffing has recently been particularly strong. There is talk of possible moderation in that growth, but those forecasts still see the market as strong.

Where do you see the IT market heading? Send me an email with your thoughts at cjohnson (at) staffingindustry (dot) com.

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Yet, remote and hybrid work has emerged as a frontrunner in terms of how people are assessing a company’s commitment to their employees. There’s also been significant backlash to overzealous office return policies like those put forth by Google or Tesla that mandated workers return or lose their jobs. Even among executives, there’s disagreement about the value or feasibility of going back to pre-pandemic workplace norms.

But what’s being lost in the debate on flexible work policies  is that where we work is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to improving wellness, balance and wholeness in relation to our work. The Great Resignation that continues to see millions of people quitting their jobs — often for better opportunities — speaks to the fact that people want more from their jobs.

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This has spurred important momentum around developing more human-centered benefits and policies as employees become increasingly intolerant of toxic, “always on,” or unfulfilling work – things flexibility alone can’t solve for. As our ability to return to normal comes into view, we should instead set our sights on a future of work that brings greater meaning to the eight hours a day we spend on the job.

Research has shown that in addition to being better for your well-being, the ability to be authentic at work also contributes to your success. That’s because the alternative — catering to perceived workplace standards set by dated societal norms — creates an emotional and cognitive load that heightens anxiety and impacts performance. Getting workplace culture right is an equity imperative, as under-represented groups inclusive of women, members of the queer community, those requiring accessibility needs and people of color are more likely to feel they need to change or conceal their identities at work to get ahead.

And we shouldn’t have to. By limiting our quest for authenticity to the workplace, we’re failing to break ground on ways that will actually allow us to lead fuller lives because of, rather than in spite of our jobs. This means companies need to put equal focus into how they support employees on and beyond work hours. At EZRA, we’ve created a culture where employees are encouraged to take time during the workday to care for themselves by publicly celebrating (and insisting) people take a mid-day yoga class, skip out for a hike or break for an episode of their favorite show during what we call their weekly “Wellness Hour.” We also equip every employee with a professional coach to support them in their own personal and professional goals. By creating space for people to nurture themselves in meaningful ways, we’ve seen a powerful shift in how people show up at work — as themselves.

Defaulting to “competitive benefits” to attract talent is no longer enough in this climate. And flexibility alone certainly won’t go far enough to meet the needs of today’s workforce. People want to bring their whole selves to work, and finding innovative ways to do that is a lot closer than we think.

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Permanent Job Numbers Take a Hit

Taking a detailed look into the white-collar jobs market, our latest Recruitment Trends Snapshot report reveals that the contractor recruitment market remains buoyant in light of the ongoing dearth of resources, with vacancies up 2% month on month and 7% between July 2021 and 2022. This increase in contractor demand has translated into positive sales revenue trends for contract placements, which grew 3% between June and July 2022 and 15% annually.

In contrast, permanent job numbers have dropped, down 1% from June to July 2022, also reporting a similar decline annually in July. This decline in permanent demand has impacted both placement numbers and sales revenue for recruiters, which both saw a 7% drop month on month in July.

While this dip in permanent recruitment appears to be marginal, in a market impacted by a cost-of-living crisis, recession fears and a shortage of skills, these figures present a potential indication of economic instability. In fact, when we look at the pre-pandemic comparison, we can see the extent of the drop in permanent recruitment, with vacancies falling 23% between July 2019 and July 2022. In comparison, contractor job numbers rose 13% during this same period, highlighting the extent of the reliance on contingent labor to fill resourcing gaps in the current economy.

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Salaries Show No Signs of Inflation Increases

The data, provided by the global leader in software for the staffing industry, Bullhorn, also reveals that perhaps rather concerningly, given the widely talked about cost-of-living crisis, average permanent salaries have fallen 7% year on year, despite July seeing a 10% annual increase in permanent placement numbers. This will no doubt exacerbate the shortage of applications for current roles, further increasing the reliance on the contract market. However, a further worry is that these underwhelming salaries could also lead to a drop in staff retention rates. There have already been reports of sector-wide strikes, with recent plans for an autumn strike by those in the education sector fueled by anger over the government’s below-inflation pay proposal.

An Unsustainable Talent Pipeline

While the reliance on the contractor market to fill resourcing gaps is evident, as Global Public Policy Director Tania Bowers explains, this isn’t a long-term solution: “This reliance on the non-employed segment of the workforce simply isn’t sustainable at a time when the UK’s attractiveness as a destination to work for international contractors is dwindling post-Brexit. And with the impact of Off Payroll still being felt in the temporary recruitment market, the longer-term availability of these resources and the ability to tap into skills in a cost-effective manner is at risk. We urgently need some stability from the government and a clearer direction on the regulation of the employment market to ensure that the UK can manage through the difficult times ahead.”

The data is painting a worrying picture for the UK’s permanent recruitment market at a time of continued instability. We are still seeing the impact of the pandemic play out, but to see such significant spikes in contractor recruitment when comparing pre-pandemic levels with today, while permanent jobs decline, suggests that the country’s skills agenda is balancing on a knife’s edge. Companies are faced with no other choice but to turn to contractors to keep business as usual operations running, but for many, that’s not a sustainable approach. With average permanent salaries also dropping despite the cost-of-living crisis, our economic stability is at stake. While we await the decision around a new prime minister for the country, my hope is that the successful individual prioritizes a solution to the UK’s skills crisis.

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Every country has its own laws and rules regarding employment. In light of this, minimum wage and employment laws vary from nation to nation; hence, your company would benefit from recruiting individuals from abroad to provide high-quality services. For companies with a limited budget, hiring overseas personnel makes things easier. Whether you are an existing company or a start-up, there are many reasons you should hire offshore talents for your company.

Improved business growth. Without first establishing an offshore staff in another country, you cannot expand there. To properly integrate into the new nation and build awareness for your business, you need to start with your offshore crew. Additionally, they would make it easier for you to hire more employees and develop your company entirely inside of their jurisdiction. However, you need to be familiar with their rules before you fully integrate into the new nation. For example, if you wish to expand in Singapore, you must learn about company registration rules there.

Worldwide talent. When hiring employees from your country, you only have access to a limited pool of professionals. Although the ones applying to work for you are experts in their field, hiring offshore talent will give you a wider range of choices. Having a variety of talented professionals would create room for healthy competition and help you achieve maximum productivity. When hiring professionals, you will come across a wide range of applications. All you need to do is select the best candidate and get the best for your company.

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Lower employment cost. The most intriguing aspect about recruiting people from abroad is that you would pay less for a service that otherwise would have cost more. Why does this matter? Each nation uses a unique currency, and different currencies have distinct conversion rates. Therefore, you will automatically spend less on salaries if the value of your country’s currency is higher than the currency used in the nation you are hiring from. The minimum wage is another significant factor in cost reduction. In India, the minimum wage for three days is equal to the minimum wage in America per hour. You will also spend less on infrastructure and utilities because you are still establishing your business. Your employees could even start with their own equipment.

Time difference. Another benefit of hiring an international worker is that you and your offshore team will be in different time zones. This often means that your staff will perform tasks while you’re sleeping or taking a break, with your employees ready for a new assignment when you return to work. You have the option to hire workers who are available 24/7 if you hire offshore.

Access to resources. You can access resources not available in your own country by hiring offshore talent. Because technological development differs significantly between nations, you can do your work with special tools if your offshore crew is working in a location with more advanced technology. Other tangible resources operate similarly. Employing workers from abroad gives you access to resources and supplies that are difficult to get locally, therefore fostering business growth and productivity.

Hiring internationally has done a lot of good for the companies who take advantage of it. It is never too late for you to hire an offshore professional who would help you build a team to enable you easier access to an international scene.

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In this article, I will teach you all you need to know about managing exhausted employees, from the legalities of getting involved to all the forward planning.

Recent statistics show that one in two employees struggle with burnout at work, and it’s not really hard to see why. In light of recent uncertainties surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and the cost of living crisis, the wave of resulting stress and pressure this has brought with it will have taken an inevitable toll on the health and well-being of many of the world’s workers.

This, coupled with the transition towards remote working and the various periods of furlough and lockdown, will have led many people to feel an added pressure in the workplace, affecting them both mentally and physically. What exactly can you do as an employer to help any members of staff already exhibiting these signs? And what should you do if the situation doesn’t improve? 

Who Should Get Involved — HR or the Manager? 

This is a tricky question to answer, as it really depends on the exact situation involved. Not everyone feels comfortable talking openly about their mental health. While some employees may be happy to talk to you about how they’re feeling, others may feel a lot more uncomfortable about the idea. 

Therefore, it’s important to respect the boundaries of your staff by making it clear to them what your company’s mental health procedures are should they need any help. If, for example, they should speak to someone in HR, make it clear to them who that person is and what they need to do. Don’t simply take it upon yourself as their manager to address the situation head-on. 

Mental health is a very sensitive matter which HR teams are trained to deal with. So, while you can state your concerns over any poor work-related performances, you should reserve judgment and avoid involving yourself in any potential non-work-related personal issues they might be currently dealing with.  

If, however, the issue has been going on for a while, set up a work-related meeting with the employee to re-establish your expectations of them, set realistic targets and provide constructive feedback. That way, the employee will have a much clearer idea of where they currently stand and be given a platform to come forward for extra help.

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How To Communicate with Burnt-Out Staff

When you spot an employee displaying signs of burnout or another mental health disorder, it’s important to tread with caution before discussing anything directly with them. After all, struggling with a mental health issue will often leave employees feeling particularly vulnerable and potentially unwilling to discuss their feelings with you as their employer. But that’s not to say you can’t help. 

The key thing is to avoid being judgmental, invasive or emotional when you communicate with them. Your role as a leader is to inspire confidence and create a safe space for employees to come to you with any issues they might be having without fear of being judged or stigmatized. Therefore, rather than singling out burnt-out employees for one-on-one conversations about their issues, consider educating the entire workforce about the importance of mental health instead. 

That way, you’ll not only be able to avoid any potential legal issues in the future, but you’ll also subtly encourage the struggling member of staff to come to you, allowing you to take ownership of the situation alongside a trained HR representative. 

Should Mental or Physical Health-Related Conversations Be Handled Separately or as Part of a Performance Review?

Again, this question is tricky to answer for two key reasons. First, it really depends on the situation involved. And second, some managers may actually only recognize an employee is underperforming during a performance review. 

That said, however, conversations about mental or physical health shouldn’t just be reserved for these situations; if you recognize an employee is either mentally or physically burnt-out, the sooner you can intervene, the better. Therefore, you shouldn’t actively wait for a performance review before handling the situation. Instead, you should keep in regular contact with the employee during one-to-one sessions and offer extra training and incentives to encourage them to appreciate the value of their input. 

As their leader, you should also educate yourself on how to identify the first signs of career-related burnout and underperformance. That way, you’ll not only be able to act a lot more quickly, but you could also help prevent the issue from manifesting into something worse, such as anxiety, depression, insomnia or chronic fatigue syndrome. 

In Summary

While it may be perfectly understandable that you need to prioritize the needs of your business, you also have a responsibility to protect the health and well-being of your staff. Therefore, by taking the time to act in a calm, considerate and sensitive manner when dealing with underperformance, your staff will appreciate your support and will likely improve their work ethic a lot more quickly than if they were to be confronted or stigmatized for it. 

We’re all human, after all. And it’s important to remember that when dealing with sensitive matters like burnout.

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Whether it’s bringing someone in to answer phones or cover a medical leave, temporary solutions are often considered a means to an end when an organization is short-staffed. But when regarded instead as a proactive resource for moving an organization forward, a flexible workforce can transform a company. Today, as a potential recession looms, the appetite for a flexible workforce is growing — which makes approaching a temporary or project-based staff as a first choice even more imperative.

In this tight labor market, we have seen employers using compensation as their primary edge against competitors, but wage inflation is expensive and may be unsustainable. The larger incentive to proactively seeking a temporary workforce, though, is not just fiscal; it’s transformational. In the middle of an ongoing labor shortage, temporary workers are untapped talent waiting to help you move the needle. Opening up to these workers can assist in immediate and short-term goals for longer-term transformation.

The temporary workforce is a resource to pilot all of the projects you want to get to but can’t because you’re limited by budgets and bandwidth. Ask your overworked employees: “If there was one thing that you could get off your desk that would be game-changing for you and your time, what would it be?” You could not only effectively reduce that employee’s workload but allow someone else to expand and/or grow their skills, either within your organization or externally. The flexible professional workforce is interested in experiences — they often have the aptitude and attitude to move an organization through change. When given the chance to do so, it’s a win for the temporary worker, your overworked staff and you.

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As a result of the major shifts we’ve seen in the workforce landscape since the pandemic, flexible work is also becoming more attractive to candidates. The stigma of being a “temp” and not having a full-time job has been replaced by a desire to maintain the flexibility and work-life balance that many workers have been afforded over the last two years. Younger generations in particular are motivated by experience versus lifetime employment status with one organization. They are enticed by a company that leads with purpose and offers meaningful stretch opportunities and work-life balance. They are eager to bring their whole selves to the workplace and are equally driven to learn and feel integral to projects and challenges.

Flexible work provides a sense of security for job seekers who are dubious of committing to one organization amid layoffs and the Great Regret. Companies are making sweeping promises to secure talent, and while compensation is a priority for today’s job seekers, the value system of the company is of equal consequence. Employees want to feel seen and cared for, and the unfortunate reality of the changing job market is that candidates are accepting attractive offers only to find out the company isn’t the right fit. Short-term assignments and project work provide opportunities to not only feel out an organization’s culture but also leverage a job well done in conversations around desired career paths and how that may or may not fit within the company. While flexible workers may not be privy to the same benefits as full-time staff, the perk of longevity at the right company is a fair trade. Again, it’s a win for both sides.

Reimagining the role of a flexible workforce comes down to seeing the possibilities rather than its limitations. Every worker, regardless of employment status, has the potential to not only reduce burdens on current staff but also improve productivity by moving the ball on projects that need to get launched. Whether for organizations navigating labor shortages and budget restraints or job seekers weighing the pros and cons of competing offers, when seen as a first choice, flexible solutions are just that — solutions.

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But the impact of the pandemic has given workers a new taste for more adaptable ways of working, and for many, the typical 9-5 is now restrictive and old fashioned. Research across employment sectors has found people now actively seek out flexible working options, searching for jobs that allow them to work around their studies or make room for quality time with the family.

In particular, flexible opportunities, not necessarily linked to long-term contracts or experience periods, can be an attractive solution for workers struggling to get “traditional” jobs after long gaps in their CVs caused by unemployment, health conditions, maternity or other circumstances. This helps open up the job pool to fresh talent who may otherwise feel excluded from the market.

PREMIUM CONTENT: Platform Approach Vs. Point: The Promise of End-to-End Solution Suites in Flexible Workforce Management

On top of this, industries such as hospitality which rely on a variety of staff employed on different bases to match fluctuations can really benefit from adjusting staffing levels at short notice to keep businesses running smoothly.

But even though flexibility has become the latest buzzword in the world of employment, there’s still the lingering fear that opting for flexible work will involve additional expensive admin or take large scale restructuring for businesses.

However, the pandemic has taught us that in many cases flexibility doesn’t have to come at the expense of productivity or cost — so much so that many businesses are continuing to let their staff work from home or keep flexible hours. And for those still skeptical, embracing a new wave of technological solutions opens up opportunities to make flexibility an asset, not a cause of stress and uncertainty.

Businesses that see embracing flexibility as detrimental to their current staffing practices or an expense they can’t afford could instead risk missing out on attracting vital workforces who increasingly search for employment which allows them to work around the things that matter to them. For this to work, flexibility shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought, or simply as a causal, low-pay alternative, but as a fundamental part of our staffing structures.

Business as usual isn’t always the best way forward. By rethinking how you hire staff, the opportunities available, and even the shift patterns on offer, you can be the difference between continued recruitment struggles and a thriving business.

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