While employers were used to receiving more applicants than the number of job openings in the pre-pandemic times, the post-pandemic era has presented a rather different situation as workers shortage hit the US, UK, Canada, and EU markets. The acute labour shortage signalled a significant shift in strategies from careful management of expenses and avoiding massive layoffs, which was the main concern of many employers at the onset of the pandemic, to finding new ways to retain and hire new workers as the economies reopen.
Since labor shortage means a drop in business profit, the following three strategies can help employers manage employees in the post-covid times and maximize their business profits.
Although labour shortage became a common challenge for businesses across industries as economies re-opened, many companies characterized by prolonged wage stagnation suffered a direct hit. Subsequently, the number of workers re-skilling and quitting their jobs or moving to higher-paying, better-working companies increased.
The importance of top talent for business growth and innovation explains why employers should be willing to pay more for them.
As well as offering high wages, several companies also offer perks like free meals, gym memberships, financial planning, unlimited vacation, and flexible scheduling.
Yet that alone won't suffice to maintain a productive workforce post-covid. As such, business leaders should also focus on fostering a culture of empathy. It is my belief that corporate perks should focus more on employee well being than simply being used as a tool to boost productivity in the post-covid era. Therefore, employers should create a more empathetic work culture characterised by leadership kindness rather than command and control.
“Leaders should adopt a more empathetic work culture rather than one characterised by command and control.”
We can assume that throughout the pandemic, labour shortages can be partly attributed to the disrupted global migration. According to OCED, an economic club tracking migrants in 37 economies, migration has been stalled due to border closures and stalled visa processings.
A future crisis may be averted by reducing the reliance on migrant labor, which has grown significantly in the past decade. It is also possible for companies to reduce the training costs for their employees by utilising available government training strategies. For example, companies operating in the UK can use apprenticeships through public-private partnerships between the business sector, education, and state to offer low-cost training to their under-skilled employees.
Automation may be an option for employers looking to plug existing staffing gaps in their companies, especially when it comes to doing some tasks such as cleaning, which became fraught during the pandemic. However, even the in-demand service workers' jobs came under threat as the pandemic peaked as employers resorted to using advanced technologies to fill the gaps.
A survey conducted by McKinsey in 2020 revealed that the pandemic accelerated automation, with 67% of the executives admitting to combining it with AI to ease business operation costs. To prevent losing employees who fail to get well will automation, business leaders should make training available for lowly-paid employees to help them up-skill and work in the highly automated sectors instead of retrenchment and layoffs. That can reduce the company's turnover rate and boost employee commitment.
In conclusion, managing employee shortages in the post-covid times require a multifaceted approach that focuses on corporate productivity and employee well-being by fostering a culture of empathy. High wages and lucrative corporate perks can also go a long way in helping companies attract and retain top talents in their workforce, resulting in more productivity and low employee turnover.
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