History of the Emerging Workforce Study 22+ years in the making

Workplace relationships prove a significant factor in the overall happiness of workers. Whether an employee viewed their supervisor as a friend or not has a direct bearing on their job satisfaction, trust in their employer, loyalty, and beliefs about the quality of management in their organization.

Work/life balance is in high demand. As workers struggle to balance the responsibilities of their professional life with their personal life, work/life balance programs are becoming a lead factor in employee retention.

Social media is creating a deeper level of transparency and accountability for employers. A clear corporate mission and active follow-through matters to employees. In fact, workers say it has a significant impact on their job satisfaction and loyalty to an employer.

Economic uncertainty has caused a surge in free-agent thinking. Workers are realizing it's up to them to create their own stability in the workforce. Moreover, workers are scrutinizing employers more closely via social media, and corporate mission, values, and reputation are shaping their views.

Employers and employees are concerned about future workers—due to a lack of skills—and companies, due to an impending skill gap. Finding qualified talent is difficult and retaining them amid decreasing loyalty is becoming a challenge. As millennials flood the workplace, HR leaders must give priority to talent pipelining and succession planning.

Workers are on the move, causing employers to refocus their retention efforts on areas that prove meaningful to employees, from raising wages and work/life balance to training and development. STEM professionals and other specialized skill sets are in demand, posing new recruiting challenges for employers trying to fill these roles. As Boomers rapidly exit the workplace, the skills gap is widening, forcing employers to get serious about succession planning, equipping Millennials for leadership and recruiting Gen Z.

With the incredibly tight labor market, employers need to be more aligned with what employees want and need and what drives them. They want to work for a company that shares their passions and advocates for causes they care about. It’s even more important for employers to evolve their approaches to recruiting and engaging employees so they can attract the right talent and win in the marketplace. Dissatisfaction with work/life balance and compensation are chief drivers of turnover.