Despite the economic carnage wrought by the pandemic, 2021 will see the ‘war for talent’ re-emerge, according to senior HR professionals. According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), “the tide is about to turn.” SHRM cites a study that shows that “more than half of employees surveyed in North America plan to look for a new job in 2021.” We are seeing the beginning of the shift in power away from employers and towards workers.
According to Bloomberg, “The U.S. economy is set for a hiring boom in the months ahead, as the coronavirus pandemic recedes. There are signs it’s already underway.” The hardest-hit sectors, which accounted for a huge part of the downsizing, will particularly benefit from the "Great Reopening." These sectors include fitness centers, hotels and hospitality, restaurants, airlines, retail, nail salons and other service and manufacturing businesses. This will prompt companies to bring back furloughed workers and hire additional staff to meet the new demand.
Wage rates have increased across the board to lure workers back. Employers "are aggressively competing for talent by increasing their compensation," said Julia Pollack, Labor Economist for ZipRecruiter. But simply increasing compensation is not enough, according to senior HR leaders and analysts. HR professionals are getting creative with a cornucopia of new benefits in an effort to stand out.
"We knew we had to do something radically different to make Waste Management attractive when you have other companies looking for the same type of worker," said Tamla Oates-Forney, chief people officer in a recent NY Times article. Waste Management now will pay for employees to earn bachelor's and associate degrees, as well as certificates in areas like data analytics. Further, the company will begin offering these scholarships to spouses and children.
A sampling of new benefits and incentives include:
“I've seen a lot of people offering monetary incentives, but we didn't feel that was enough. The college kids coming want something more than a paycheck. I don't think we're done with incentives... I suspect we will be coming out with more." --Joy Rothschild, Chief Human Resource Officer, Omni Hotels
Generous incentives are designed to both reduce turnover and attract new hires. And it makes monetary sense. For example, according to the New York Times, each time an hourly employee leaves Waste Management, it costs a minimum of $12,000 to search and hire a replacement. Further, among drivers at the company, 50% of safety incidents involve those with 3 years or less on the job.
"In terms of safety, the longer you are here, the better you are," said CEO Jeff Fish. "There is a real hook [with our education benefits] that can keep people here longer."
Smart, forward-thinking executives will notice the tide change and immediately take action. They’ll put in place plans to attract and retain talent. The companies that prioritize their employees and do everything in their power to make them happy and motivated will be the winners in this new upcoming era.
Some incentives include:
The best incentive to keep employees, however is the opportunity to work for company that they want to brag about. When it comes to employee recruiting, your company’s reputational excellence is hugely important to your success. Employees can and will do as much research on potential employers as employers do of potential employees. Good and bad reviews can have a huge impact on your ability to attract good employees.
PTO Exchange is a highly differentiating benefit that gives employees more options to realize the value of their unused vacation, based on their own personal situation and priorities.
With PTO Exchange, employees can now exchange the monetary value of their unused vacation for: