Amid a rapid reopening of the U.S. economy and a huge increase in demand for workers, a new survey from The Conference Board found that businesses are having immense difficulty finding qualified workers.
In fact, 80 percent of organizations hiring mostly industry and manual services workers report difficulty finding qualified workers, with 25 percent reporting it is very difficult. This compares to 74 percent before the pandemic, with 4 percent reporting it was very difficult.
The results of the survey suggest human resources departments will face four main challenges in the months ahead: recruiting qualified workers and retaining existing ones; adjusting to a world where a large share of employees work primarily remotely; addressing deteriorating employee well-being; and managing the return to the workplace.
Conducted by The Conference Board in April 2021, more than 230 HR executives, primarily from large U.S. companies, weighed in about COVID-19's ongoing impact on both the workforce and the workplace.
Industry and manual services workers—a hot commodity: 80 percent of organizations hiring mostly industry and manual services workers report it is somewhat or very difficult to find qualified workers, up from 74 percent before the pandemic. Organizations report it is very difficult to find qualified workers at more than six times the rate (4 percent prepandemic vs. 25 percent now).
Retaining workers also a challenge: 49 percent of organizations with mostly industry and manual services workers report that it is also somewhat or very difficult to retain workers, up from 30 percent before the pandemic. Among those employing professional and office workers, 28 percent report difficulty retaining workers, up from 23 percent before the pandemic.
The remote work boom is here to stay: Nearly 40 percent of human capital executives said that they expect a significant number of their employees (40 percent or more) will still work primarily remotely one year after COVID-19 subsides. This figured has doubled since the April 2020 survey, when only 19 percent of respondents expected the same.
Prepandemic, most organizations (nearly 75 percent) had fewer than 10 percent of employees who primarily worked remotely.
The tradeoff: Nearly 60 percent of companies reported that productivity increased in their organization over the past year. This is not unqualified good news, however.
Higher productivity and increased working hours have taken a toll:
76 percent of respondents said that they had seen an increase in employees identifying as burned out;
72 percent said that more employees had sought mental health support;
60 percent said the number of vacation days used decreased;
55 percent reported a decrease in work-life balance. ■