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Industries around the world are seeing a “rebalancing” of the labor market as the wave of hiring caused by the pandemic begins to ease, experts warn.
A senior LinkedIn executive has revealed that the world saw a 40% increase in hiring across all industries between 2020 and 2021, but this growth has leveled off significantly between 2021 and 2022.
During a panel discussion titled “Talent, Culture and Purpose” at Stack 2022, a developer conference hosted by GovTech, Singapore’s digital transformation agency, Frank Koo, head of Asia, talent and learning solutions at LinkedIn, noted that there is “a huge difference” on the labor market between two years.
Rebalance
“It’s a confusing time… the technology talent acquisition market is refocusing,” Koo noted, “it’s really a rebalancing of the industry.”
Fears of a so-called “major layoff” as workers around the world quit their jobs after rethinking their priorities during the pandemic have so far proved mixed, with some companies hit hard and others seemingly unaffected.
Koo noted that for the tech industry in particular, there was a distinct sense of community as people gathered around friends or contacts who had quit their jobs or been laid off, offered support, made LinkedIn connections, or even offered potential employment opportunities. leads.
“There is a tremendous community spirit from tech workers supporting tech people using technology,” said Koo, “and I am hopeful that this spirit will continue in the longer term as we navigate together through changing tech skills and economic cycles.”
The ever-changing nature of the job market has also had a knock-on effect on those looking for a new job, noted fellow panelist Noah Pepper, former APAC head at Stripe and GovTech board member, highlighting how people are increasingly reassess exactly what a job means to them.
“The most important thing, whether you’re in the recruiting seat or in the merging seat, is figuring out the alignment between what you want out of the work you’re doing and what makes that work meaningful to you,” Peper noted.
“I think as an organization you have to be paranoid about the incentive structure you create because people can really, really smell what the leaders care about… and if they care people show up in person, and that’s the most important thing they pay attention, people will show up, but they will find ways to take something else back for themselves.
“At the end of the day, we’re all building or watching something because it’s really important to someone on their end,” Pepper added. “It could be a citizen, it could be a customer, a company or an individual, and we are serving someone, doing something for them that is very important to them, and if you do it wrong, there will be consequences…understand who you serve and who your customer is is incredibly important and valuable, and it matters at every level of the organization.”
There has been a lot of talk in recent months about the specter of “quitting quietly”, where employees who are disillusioned with their jobs simply do the bare minimum necessary to avoid being laid off. more fascinating.
“We see many job seekers asking not only what they’re going to do, but why they’re doing it,” he said.
“On an organizational level, it’s about: Do leaders provide the right environment and growth opportunities for people to get the best out of themselves at work and become the best?”
Koo emphasized what he called “discretionary effort,” namely what a person chooses to contribute to the things they do, and exactly how much effort they are willing to put in. For him, the question for employers is how exactly they do that. encourage that willingness to put in more effort, and how are companies working on how to help employees develop and grow.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like this is a problem that will be fixed any time soon and it will be different for literally every company. But it is clear that the initial recruitment process, selling your company to a potential employee, will play a crucial role, as Koo points out: “I foresee that the collaboration between the hirer, the employer and the job seekers will become closer. .”
“It’s a billion-dollar question we all struggle to answer — I wish I had a crystal ball to answer.”