In the post-coronavirus economy, the workforce has become a “talents’ market,” as heightened demand for quality employees amidst the Great Resignation has given them the upper hand, said Arda Atalay, head of MENA private sector LinkedIn Talent Solutions.
Within this context, employees are asking for flexible working conditions, with LinkedIn job posts using the keyword “flexibility” getting 350 percent more engagement versus does that don’t, said Atalay, who was speaking at Nissan’s inaugural Expo Speaker Series entitled Hybrid Workforces and the Impacts on Companies.
“There is growth in the economy but in a talent-constrained market. Just like it’s a sellers’ market when it comes to property today, it’s a talents’ market when it comes to the workforce,” explained Atalay.
“There is demand and it’s everywhere. In what is being called the Great Resignation, people are rethinking how and where they work and this is ending up with even bigger demand on the job market. The talent is now having the upper hand,” he continued.
Sharing some data from the professional network, Atalay said the search term employees are interacting with the most on LinkedIn job posts is “flexibility” with 77 percent of millennials and GenZs, the segments leading this trend, actively seeking out careers that offer this benefit.
“Demand for flexibility will continue and even accelerate and businesses will need to react to that. Flexibility is the bestseller for millennials and Gen Zs, and they are not going anywhere. The majority of the workforce is made up of those two segments and it is only going to grow,” said Atalay.
“The workforce is showing their colours quite clearly and saying they want flexibility, people-centric options and work-life balance,” he added.
In fact, globally, work-life balance overtook compensation as employees’ number one workplace expectation – at 60 percent – while it is a close second in the region, according to a LinkedIn survey Atalay quoted.
Employers respond to employees’ demand for flexibility
Faced with this context, employers’ are responding to market demand, with 80 percent of business leaders in the UAE indicating that they will set guidelines for flexible work within their organisations, said Atalay.
“In the UAE job listings, we see a 71 percent year-on-year increase in remote job postings. This is another indicator that hybrid and remote work are the mainstream of work, instead of just another option,” he said.
This does not mean, however, that there has been no resistance from employers when it comes to remote work.
“Even as offices have re-opened over the past few months, there has been a consistent demand from employees for flexibility. On the employer side, however, there is also some resistance that we detected in our surveys. At the C-suite level, 35 percent of employers are saying they don’t feel the same trust level when they don’t see their team in front of them at the office versus when they do,” said Atalay.
“Again, 35 percent of C-suite executives also quote the proximity bias where they worry that those who don’t get enough face time with their managers might be overlooked for promotions or when being on-boarded,” he continued.
Atalay believes that employees’ demand for flexibility is so strong that business leaders will have no choice but to find hybrid or digital solutions for the proximity bias.
The discussion was moderated by Thierry Sabbagh, managing director at Nissan Middle East, and is part of the automotive company’s speakers’ series where it gathers business leaders from the community around a topic of interest.
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