2016 offers both challenges and opportunities based on several trends that will help define the workplace environment for the coming years, say the employment experts at Allison & Taylor, Inc.:
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Employees increasingly will realize that the highly desired “work-life balance” has a darker side. It has created new expectations in the form of being always available and responsive, e.g., in the form of after-hours e-mails, late-night texts requiring an immediate response, or FaceTime calls with customers in different time zones.
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Millennials increasingly will fill management positions vacated by retiring Baby Boomers. Millennials will fill the leadership gap by increasingly flattening corporate hierarchies, utilizing empowerment and team-oriented tactics, and urging their employers to make a more positive impact on society.
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More professionals will seek (or accept) short or part-time stints instead of fulltime jobs. By 2020, approximately 40% of Americans will be part of what has come to be called the “gig” economy attributed in part to increased access to technology, the impact of the recession, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act that has imposed new costs on employers.
- The resurgence of “boomerang” employees (those who leave a company only to ultimately return at a later date). Benefits of rehiring former employees include their familiarity with corporate culture and the fact that they don’t require as much training to get up to speed. This lowers the risk factor from an employer’s perspective, making boomerang employees significant competitors to other active job seekers.
