The world is slowly opening up post the pandemic gloom. To put it succinctly, UCLA economists have called it “the end of the gloomy COVID winter and the advent of an exuberant vaccine spring.” The fear of contracting the disease is slowly dissipating over time with the world getting successfully vaccinated. The job market is ready to take off like no other industry. Recruitment agencies are going on a compensating drive, to make up for the lost opportunities in 2020. Let us look at some of the most sought-after emerging trends that are going to dictate the job market for the foreseeable future.
1. The Era of More Jobs
The job market has already started heating up. The spending habits have been dropping across the world. Economists have noticed that Americans have actually been saving more of their money. The stock market has been hitting new record highs constantly. This is representative of the confidence investors have. That would open up newer avenues. Venture capitalists are looking to invest, businesses are looking to expand and launch new business lines.
This could only mean one thing: the creation of a whole new line of jobs. This would lead to healthy competition in the hiring market. Everybody will be vying for the best talent to keep the momentum going. Also, jobs in healthcare services will be at an all-time high still ever since the criticality it was discovered during the pandemic.
2. Hybrid Working Conditions
One cannot talk about 2020 without talking about remote working. Remote working is the future. Employee productivity has increased 1.3x primarily because they are saving the time and energy spent in traveling. They have a better work-life balance. They can be around family members for longer. Employers are saving on rent and utilities. Location is not a criteria anymore so the whole world is your oyster while hiring. Looks like everybody wins? Not really.
While most things in life cannot/should not replace the sheer joy and energy of working around familiar places, most companies have come to a hybrid solution. You go to work twice a week and work from home for the remaining three.
The bigger of the companies are doing that. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, said that their employers “will not be back in the office until September 2021—and even then, they won’t be in every day and not without them wanting to.”
3. Digital Nomads
With most companies declaring a permanent work-form-home arrangement, most millennials have been travelling while working and have had more opportunity to leverage the gig economy. With time and location being no filter. The idea is to break the diary grind and shake things up while making a solid second income. Everything that seemed impossible back in the day seems like a top emerging trend in 2021.
Unsurprisingly, the work anywhere-in-the-world movement is skewed towards white-collar workers, well-paid millennials without attachments mooring them to one corner of the world two another. This will also help them expand their horizons within being in the confines of a regular 9-to-5.
Hawaii’s economy struggled due to a lack of tourism. In order to revive it, they started a program to bring remote workers to the state. They started a campaign to attract people to come to the island and set up remote offices. A sizeable number of countries are encouraging Americans to migrate there with special visas and absolutely no hassles.
Since the falling tourism has really hit the economies, some countries need and covet newcomers. Barbados, Estonia, Bermuda and Georgia, to name a few, are inviting Americans to work, pay taxes and contribute to the economy. With a pleasant climate, sound technology infrastructure, low taxes and financial incentives, countries lobbying for remote workers will also be an interesting movement in 2021.
4. The Season of Startups
As explained, venture capitalists are very bullish. Investments into newer ventures will be very high. Hence, more jobs will be created. Also, these companies will be very agile and mostly digital first.
New businesses were being set up at a record-setting rate, in what is being deemed as a “startup boom.” John Haltiwanger, an economist, said that within the first two months of the lockdown there was a real rise in new business applications. He pointed out, “The third quarter of 2020 is the best quarter of applications we’ve ever seen. At least in terms of numbers.”
In fact, between June and September, nearly 1.4 million startups were founded.
5. Automation: Boon or Bane
The World Economic Forum (WEF) concluded in a report that “a new generation of smart machines could potentially replace a large proportion of existing human jobs.”
The study suggests ML and AI will cause a serious double-disruption, as the pandemic almost forced companies to accelerate the deployment of new technologies to slash costs, enhance productivity and be less reliant on humans.
The organization claims automation will supplant about 85 million jobs by 2025. But it will also create 97 million new jobs with the help of the rapid development of technology. Hence in order to keep up with this trend in the job market, it is very important for employees (who are looking for a shift) to upskill and reskill according to where the demand concentrated.
2021 is the light at the end of a tunnel. The one that we all prayed for from the safety of our homes. Job boards have a huge task in front of them. Make note of all the top emerging trends in the job market and modify the board accordingly.
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