5 important takeaways from the Covid crisis for hiring managers

According to research by PageGroup, more than 70 percent of job seekers in the Netherlands think the recent Covid crisis will have an impact on their career options and expectations in the next 2 years.  What are the most important takeaways for hiring managers from the Covid crisis? 

1. Personal priorities will become more important 

The Covid crisis gave many employees time to think about their work life balance; 45 percent of employees say they will focus more on their personal priorities in their next job. This means that work-life balance is high on the agenda of talent, which is also highlighted in takeaway number 4. 

2. Job candidates will accept different employment conditions  

Most of the applicants (65,4 %) said that because of the crisis they will most likely accept different employment conditions in their new job, then they would before the Covid outbreak.  
 
One of the reasons might be that applicants expect they can´t ask for the same benefits as before the crisis, because there are less opportunities one the job market.  One out of 3 employees (30.7%) is worried about keeping their job the upcoming years. 

3. Developing new skills is the most important reason to change jobs 

Not salary but developing professional skills and professional growth are the two most important reason for people to change jobs. That´s why many employees used the lockdown to invest in their skillset.

Many of them will enter the job market more skilled than they were before the crisis. In the Netherlands 29% took part in webinars, and 29% took a training course to boost existing skills. Some (23%] also took courses to develop new skills.  
 
Most applicants (74%) took time to refresh their CV and a further (55%) thought about career plans, to see how they can further grow professionally. These numbers highlight that the current marketplace for jobs is full of engaged applicants with new or improved skills, ready to take on the challenges of the current situation.  

4. It´s important to create a good flexible working policy 

The third most important reason for employees to change jobs is to improve their work-life balance. That´s why employers with a good flexible working policy have an advantage when it comes it attracting and retaining top talent. According to our study more than one third (38%) used the lockdown to find a better work-life balance

That doesn´t mean that people don´t want to go to the office. In general, most people (63%) are looking forward to the return to their workplace. They are especially excited to socialise with colleagues again (69%) and have lunch with colleagues again (57%) highlighting the positive social aspect of workplaces. Working from home full time is not for the entire workforce.   
 
At the same time there is a large part of the workforce - roughly one third - that prefers to work from home. That´s why it´s important for hiring managers and HR to give employees the opportunity to make their own choice.

5. There is room for improvement in crisis management 

The crisis and the changes that came with it still have a big impact on many employees. But they are reasonably positive about how it is managed.  
 
Overall the response was that employers did support their employees well throughout the crisis – (60,5 %) agreed that they were looked after. That also means that almost all 40% didn´t really have an opinion on the matter or was negative about the support. There is, in other words, room for improvement.  
 
Half of all respondents were positive about the way leadership communicated on changes, and 27% didn´t have an opinion about it. About the line management and support 49% was positive, while 33% didn´t have an opinion about it. 
 
The most positive were employees about the facilities to work from home. More than 80% were satisfied with the way it was organised.

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