Many of our clients have asked for our thoughts on the current employment landscape and how potential factors like the speculated recession might impact recruitment.  According to June ABS data, the unemployment rate remained at 3.5% and the participation rate remained at 66.8%.  Here are our thoughts on the key trends shaping Australia’s employment landscape.

Automation and the Future of work

The demand for some skills will increase, while others will decrease.  Technological, social and emotional skills will be in more demand while manual and physical labour-based skills will decrease, some of which will be replaced by automation and AI.  According to McKinsey research, there will be a key shift from activities that require basic cognitive skills, to higher and critical thinking, decision making and information processing.  Higher cognitive skills will grow significantly, requiring workers to upskill and cross-skill to stay relevant and in-demand.  

Work from Anywhere

The global understanding and appreciation of remote work was highlighted during the pandemic.  Many in the industry feel that in a few years time, remote work will simply be known as ‘work’.  The benefits of remote work are two-fold; enabling candidates to access flexible employment across borders and time zones in remote-friendly organisations, as well as enabling employers to expand their talent pools (particularly for niche roles). As Katie Burke,chief people Officer at Hubspot said:  “Do you want to access talent everywhere, or just in specific markets? If the answer is everywhere, you need to be at least open to the possibility of remote work.” 

Significance of Soft Skills

Soft skills such as empathy, communication skills and creativity are so important because they ‘enable people to leverage their uniquely human capabilities’, according to the World Economic Forum The Future of Jobs Report 2018. However, soft skills can be challenging to assess, often requiring online testing or other forms during the recruitment process.  

Rising Importance of Diverse and Inclusive Workforces

Diverse and Inclusive workforces are becoming increasingly important to business because they offer fresh perspectives, greater creativity and a workplace culture that is representative of the society we live in.  In truth, Diversity and Inclusive Workforces shouldn’t be considered a ‘trend’ – it is a focus on reducing bias in the hiring process and implementing workplace strategies that will mean that people of different races, sexuality, gender, religion and other backgrounds can feel comfortable in the workplace.   

Keen to learn more about these and other recruitment trends?  Speak with the Recruitment team at Flexi Personnel.