Trends and challenges facing Employers in 2023 - By Lizzy Turek

Employers continue to be faced with ongoing challenges this year such as recession, the cost-of-living crisis, labour strikes, skills shortage and the continuing war in Ukraine. There are approximately 1.2 million current job vacancies open, according to the Office of National Statistics (Changing trends and recent shortages in the labour market, UK - ons.gov.uk) and skills shortages continue to escalate, particularly in the care, science, engineering and hospitality sectors. In this piece, we cover some of the trends and issues employers will need to keep an eye on as we navigate our way through the rest of this year. 

Employee retention

It is becoming increasingly likely that employees will leave their job if they feel it negatively impacts their well-being. (Five hiring trends for employers to consider in 2023 | FE News). To deal with this challenge employers will need to focus more on measures to improve staff retention including improving employee wellbeing. The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) have produced Employee Turnover & Retention | Factsheets | CIPD which look at ways to improve employee retention including:

• Flexibility - the pandemic brought about the prominence of remote and hybrid working and since then, there has been a shift in the way we work with many employees prioritising work-life balance and valuing flexibility. Enabling flexible working can improve job satisfaction and lead to lower staff turnover rates. Learn more about flexible working practicesand read this report on Flexible working lessons from the pandemic.
• Fairness- a perception of unfairness, whatever the management view of the issue, is a major cause of voluntary resignations. Read more on fairness in reward in our latest Reward management survey.
• Employee wellbeing- support managers to help their teams thrive, and manage issues such as workplace stress and presenteeism. Find out more in our Health and well-being at work survey report and Wellbeing factsheet.
• Career development - opportunities for promotion are not always available but employers can look for other ways to help employees to develop their careers by offering sideway moves or work on projects that will provide different experiences and develop new skills. This will also benefit business succession planning.
• Employee consultation- ensure that employees have a 'voice' through consultative bodies (UK employers should be aware of the updated Information and Consultation of Employees regulations), regular performance conversations, attitude surveys and grievance systems.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The landscape in the world of diversity, equity and inclusion continues to evolve. A 2022 Glassdoor study of UK employees found diversity and inclusion policies are more important to younger workers than other age groups. As more Gen Z workers enter the labour market in 2023, employers must consider how their Diversity Equity & Inclusion efforts appear to this crop of workers (Five hiring trends for employers to consider in 2023 | FE News).

Current trends include using technology in recruitment, developing inclusive leadership, diversifying partners/suppliers and re-evaluating job requirements. It is argued that by expanding job requirements to include the skills (both hard and soft skill sets) and traits of people from different education and experience levels, employers can focus on candidate potential and evaluate how well a person will fit within the organisation. This approach would open up positions to a wider, more diverse pool of candidates (Diversity Trends To Look Out for in 2022 - DiversityInc Best Practices).

In light of economic pressures, there is evidence that an increasing number of retirees want to re-enter the workforce to supplement their income. As older workers are likely to spend three times longer at a company than some of their younger counterparts this is an opportunity for to recruit employees who are likely to stay longer. The Centre for Ageing Better produced a report calling for better access to flexible working arrangements and workplace adaptations to help people manage pressures such as caring responsibilities and health conditions, which become more prevalent with age. By facilitating flexible working this enables more workers, especially older workers, to remain in the labour market for longer and support the economy (Becoming an age-friendly employer | Centre for Ageing Better).

How can Thewlis Graham Associates help?

At Thewlis Graham Associates, we aim to give our clients and candidates a high-quality and supportive recruitment experience and do this by:

• Gaining a real understanding of the needs of organisations we work with and tailor our service to meet these requirements.
• Building on our strong brand and develop a special relationship with each client, to deliver a high quality and personalised professional service resulting in repeat business, recommendations and referrals.
• Engaging with candidates throughout the recruitment process, from start to finish, so they enjoy a positive experience with useful feedback and personal support.
• Exploring the full potential of candidates, identifying transferrable skills and wider areas of experience, so that the very best appointments are made.
• Using our expertise and experience as recruitment specialists along with our knowledge and access to the market via our membership of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) to offer advice, support and share best practice.

Lizzy Turek

Client Research Associate