New Workplace Trends That Influence Human Resource Hiring Decisions

Forbes recently published a post by Dan Schawbel in which he predicted many changes are expected to occur within the workplace over the next few years. Jobs are becoming more and more competitive, and employers are finding creative ways of “filtering” candidates. On the other hand, baby boomers are retiring and many people are electing to work from home which will leave some recruiters “scrambling” for workers.

Workplace trends and major changes in the workplace

• Working remotely from home is increasing: A recent Gallup Study conducted between the years of 2010 and 2012 on The State of The American Workplace, indicated that more people are now being allowed by their employers to work remotely from home. According to the study, those who do so are actually more productive and engaged.
• Freelancing is becoming the norm: Approximately 17 million people work at home on a freelance basis and have no employer. Schawbel predicts that in six years, there will be more freelancers than employees. Employers enjoy hiring freelancers because they pay for the work but do not have to provide benefits, like vacation time or health care.
• Baby Boomers are retiring: Those born between 1946 and 1964, commonly referred to as Baby Boomers, either have retired or will soon be retiring creating a gap in qualified and experienced workers. HR personnel are having trouble filling the vacancies and dealing with the impact of the loss of these workers. These workplace trends may also cause some problems with the depletion of retirement funds in some companies.
• Baby Boomers are not retiring: On the other hand, many Baby Boomers put off retiring, which creates different types of hiring decision problems for HR managers. As workers age, they may require more health care which may have an impact on the health care benefits. It also delays hiring decisions for new employees to fill the positions.
• Employers are changing the way they “filter” applicants: In addition to conducting comprehensive background checks for job applicants, 94 percent of HR recruiters report they use social media to recruit candidates for employment. Some will require applicants to take a test on critical thinking skills.
• Employers are increasing the hire of part-time workers: At least 17 percent of all employers report they are veering toward hiring more part-time workers. One of the main reasons is that they do not want to pay health-care benefits as required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The workplace trends of working remotely and freelancing will continue into the foreseeable future as companies want to cut costs and increase their bottom line. The trend of Baby Boomers continuing to work and the ACA will have major impacts on the job market over the next ten years. These workplace trends will delay hiring decisions resulting in a decline in new job creation.