Has your career changed since Covid?
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant global impact on many aspects of our lives, and one of the areas where this is most evident is the workplace. With a switch to remote work for many, and job losses and career changes for others, it’s unlikely that our careers will ever look like they did before 2020 again.
In Australia, people aged 20 to 29 years and 60 years were the most heavily impacted by COVID-19 compared with other age groups in terms of job loss. However, for people under 20 years old, there was actually a growth in employment of 6.1%, likely due to the lower cost of hiring young workers.
Your career has likely changed a lot since covid, and you may be reconsidering the future of your career path. Here are some of the ways that the world of work has changed since 2020 and what you might expect from the future of work.
The impact of covid on the workplace
The Covid-19 pandemic hit the Australian economy hard. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that around one in five workers in Australia either lost their job or had their paid work greatly reduced between March and April 2020.
And over half of working Australians surveyed (51%) reported feeling stressed due to changes in work routines and organisation throughout the pandemic. The early days of the pandemic were an overwhelming and anxiety-inducing time globally for both employers and workers as people were forced to rethink the way they did their jobs and very quickly develop new styles of working.
Before 2020, the number of Australians who worked from home all the time was about 7%, this rose to 61% during the pandemic. Similarly, the number of families using parent-only care while working rose from 30% to 64% during the pandemic, with 40% of them reporting ‘actively’ parenting during their working day. This is a huge difference from pre-covid working styles and while some aspects of this change may be quite positive, many of them have caused undue stress for families and workers.
The great resignation vs the great ‘reshuffle’
While much of the rest of the world has been experiencing what has come to be termed ‘the great resignation’, with over 20% of workers predicted to quit their jobs in 2022, Australia’s Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg has claimed that the country is instead going through a ‘great reshuffle’.
While many workers are leaving jobs to look for better opportunities, unlike in the US and the UK, Australia’s employment levels are currently at a record high. For many people, the Covid-19 pandemic changed the way they think about work and held a spotlight on the realities of many workplace cultures. Working from home full-time with no commute helped many people realise how much they value work-life balance and caused many to reconsider their long-term career goals.
If this is how you feel, right now is a great time to start looking for a new position even though this advice may seem counter-intuitive. Australia is currently experiencing a candidates market where prospects have greater bargaining power than usual when it comes to recruiting. If you’re looking for a change, you might want to consider working with a recruiter to help find the best role for your priorities.
The future of work
If you’ve been in employment since before the start of the pandemic, your career has likely changed, but what does this mean for the future?
Hybrid and remote work is here to stay
It looks like work-from-home offerings are going to become a mainstay of the job market with the global offices of Twitter and Facebook already adopting permanent remote strategies for employees.
Other companies are opting for hybrid work schedules that combine work-from-home days with more occasional in-person team meetings and the option to make the most of hotdesking in the office to give their team the best of both worlds.
Remote working is great for increased work-life balance and productivity but often makes it hard to replicate the creativity of in-person collaboration. When entering into discussions with a potential new employer, it’s important to know what style of work you prefer and understands what their stance on the matter is. If the option for remote work is essential to you, you don’t want to work for a company that measures success on face time with bosses.
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to a company’s commitment to improving its impact on the environment and employee well-being. It’s been increasingly discussed and prioritised by businesses and workers alike over the past decade but the last few years of the pandemic have really thrown it into the spotlight.
CSR has been shown to increase a company’s survivorship in times of financial distress and this has been put to the test during covid. The way businesses cared for their employees and their communities during the height of the pandemic speaks volumes about their company culture in general.
At the interview stage, it’s a good idea to ask about how they supported their team during the early days of the pandemic and about their wider, ongoing commitment to CSR to gauge whether this is the kind of business you want to work for.
Employee benefits
Covid-19 has also had a huge impact on the kind of employee benefits offered by companies with 98% of leaders surveyed stating that they will be altering and expanding their employee benefits packages in the wake of the pandemic.
Ping pong tables and Friday drinks are out, decent maternity and paternity leave, flexible working, and generous sick leave and mental health leave policies are in. The last few years have caused immense stress on many people’s emotional and mental well-being and employers are more aware of their responsibility of care to their employees in this aspect.
When applying for new jobs, be sure to ask your potential employer what benefits they offer to ascertain whether they will be the type of employer who is supportive of your mental and emotional well-being or if they’ll expect productivity and results at all costs.
Ready to change your career since covid?
If your career goals and priorities have changed a lot over the last few years and your current role no longer fulfills your needs, you’re not alone. It’s a good time to look for a position that might better suit your work/life balance and aligns more closely with your values.
If you’re considering a new role and want some support finding the perfect fit for you, speak to a member of the Conquest team today.
