The 2020 Worker Revolution Is Over. Are You Ready For The Fallout? Part One

 The pandemic of 2020 has changed our perspective on the world. It is smaller, more complex, and more dependent on technology. Covid 19 has also exposed that workers have revolted and now have a different perspective on the “job.” This revolution is now affecting employers’ ability to hire staff. In this two-part series, we discuss how workers view their job in this Post-Worker Revolution and how you can find the best employees in this chaotic labor market while reducing turnover in your company.

When Did We have a Worker Revolution?

Unlike war between countries, the labor revolution was not violent. It was subtle, silent, and slow to take hold. It was a revolution because workers changed their view of work, employment, achievement, and security. That revolution started silently in the early 1970s.

In 1971, flextime was introduced at Haller company in the UK. Since that time, society changed just as the needs of workers have changed. Workers no longer seek long-term security and retirement from a single job. No longer are workers satisfied with limited job growth and lack of recognition for individual achievements. And no longer are workers looking to the job as a source of defining their personal success. In short, a job no longer meets the employee’s personal needs beyond providing a paycheck for the time spent on the job. 

As a society, we have not yet determined if this change will have a positive, negative or neutral impact on our society. However, we can see that workers no longer connect salary to skill or achievement. This is one reason that staff easily transition from one employer to any other employer willing to pay a higher salary. Workers do not set job-related goals of achievement, so they want to be paid for “showing up” at work, instead of being paid for their value to the company.

To be sure, there are exceptions to the above description of the Worker Revolution (most notably in the professions). But the trend is there for anyone to review. The labor market has been changing each decade since the 1960s. The most visible changes occurred in 2020 as part of the Covid 19 shutdown of the economy, but that was the end of the Revolution, not the cause.

In 2020, the Covid 19 pandemic hit and the country closed for a year. That event changed the way we worked (remote offices), hours worked (self-defined work schedules), and the sense of security that workers associated with the job (because unemployment began an income producing alternative). Even the definition of productivity has been suspended in the workplace since 2020. Current standards make it difficult to measure work output for remote workers and collaborative achievements are eliminated in offices with flex time, periodic closings, and remote offices. But, other changes have been building throughout this trend.

The Age of the “Enlightened” Worker

Since the 1960s, workers began their shift toward immediate gratification. That is, workers want to define their jobs; control the work hours; retain the profit from their sales; and suspend their business activities without notice and take a mini vacation. Instead of working at traditional jobs defined by the employer, workers are attracted more and more to the gig employment (ride sharing, et. al.), independent contracting (web design, social media content creation, and outsourced bookkeeping), consulting (fashion consultants, business consulting, wedding planners, event specialists, etc.), and home-based businesses (drapery designers, seamstresses, high school and college tutors, drop-ship wholesalers, et.al.).

So, with fifty years (1971-2021) of trends in how employees view their job opportunities, how have you prepared your hiring procedures to find the best staff for your company? If you are a business owner and you complain and blame workers for their lack of commitment to the workplace, then you are part of the problem.  If you continue to follow the same hiring practices that you leaned before 2020, then you are part of the problem. And, if you believe that higher salaries will solve your hiring needs, then you are creating a new problem. This is not an indictment of your resolve, it is a recognition that times have changed, and successful businesses must change. If you fail to change, you will suffer the consequences of high turnover, low productivity, and worker dissatisfaction.

 So, as you continue to read the rest of this article, consider whether you are willing to change in your business to solve your current and future hiring challenges. The revolution has occurred. The change is in the past. The old ways will not return, even if we find a permanent vaccine to solve the pandemic. If this article is a surprise to you, then please call us immediately at (504) 780-9091. YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS SERIOUS HELP IMMEDIATELY.

 The Next Step

The stage is set, and it is up to you as a business owner to take control of your destiny and define how you hire workers in the future. How will you change your recruiting efforts, compensation packages, job duties and responsibilities, career paths, partnerships with other organizations? In Part 2 of “The 2020 Worker Revolution,” we will look at some options for you to consider in how you seek, hire, and respond to the needs of the workers in the 21nd century.