The Workforce of YOUR FuturePost a link to an article published in the last 12 months in The Wall Street Journal or

 The Workforce of YOUR FuturePost a link to an article published in the last 12 months in The Wall Street Journal or other reputable source about trends that are impacting hiring and job readiness in your business or industry.

• What are the most significant changes you have personally seen in hiring requirements in your current or previous organization over the last 5 years? How do these align to the trends identified in the article you posted?
• Does your HR leadership team talk with business unit leaders about the trends that will impact workforce needs over the next 5 years? Why or why not?
• What are the biggest threats (either from competitors or market conditions) in the areas of recruitment and talent development your organization faces?
• What will your workforce look like in 10 years if you get it right?

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates' initial posts by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.​ 

1st person to respond to is Shara

Hello everyone,

Link:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/millions-of-workers-stay-home-to-watch-young-children-as-daycares-struggle-11635087600?page=1

What are the most significant changes you have personally seen in hiring requirements in your current or previous organization over the last 5 years?   

The most significant issue in hiring is not having enough people to hire who are interested in teaching in the early education field.  The most significant change would be “hiring for attitude and training for skill.”  The problem before the pandemic was that the economy was substantial, people were working, and childcare centers were packed to capacity. However, there was a shortage of workers, which has a domino effect; it causes more stress on those working as they have to cover longer days, and then the burnout increases, which increases turnover.  “ Nearly 110,000 childcare workers left the labor force between February 2020 and September” (Dill, WSJ) was the number that they think left the industry this last year; I would say it is a lot more, and those numbers will be reviewed in the next 6 months.  So, pre-pandemic, there was already an issue starting to escalate, and post-pandemic, it is more evident and disastrous.

How do these align with the trends identified in the article you posted?

The article I posted truly speaks to the loss of 1 per every 10 workers who did not return to a childcare job.  Frankly, being a child care teacher is a hard job, and teachers deserve more money.  The impact of that increase dwindles to the families who pay tuition.  Childcare has a meager profit margin, and the bulk gets passed to families to pay for the care.

Does your HR leadership team talk with business unit leaders about the trends that will impact workforce needs over the next 5 years? Why or why not?

Our HR leadership is currently identifying the new trends and creating a new strategy to get employees interested in this industry again.

What are the biggest threats (either from competitors or market conditions) in the areas of recruitment and talent development your organization faces?

The biggest threat we face is the loss of revenue due to not having enough staff to enroll more families.  We have more people than ever, leaving the field of teaching together.  Every employee in this industry wants something different.  Some want more money; many want better and cheaper benefits.  Some employees wish to have free child care for their children to teach and make a decent wage, while others are so dedicated that they embrace everything and appreciate all support.  There is not a one-size-fits-all.

What will your workforce look like in 10 years if you get it right?

If we get it right, we will have more employees who make an equitable and fair wage above the market.  We will have increased enrollment and satisfaction from families that creates a consistent bottom line for each location.  We will have accredited sites and continue our mission to be the highest quality company in the childcare industry.  We will continue our ranking on Fortunes 100 Best Companies to Work for and pioneer many new early education initiatives.  If we get it right, the sky is the limit on what can be done for the children in our care and the employees who work so hard to care for them and their families every day.

Regards,

Shara

References:

1.  Gill. WSJ. https://www.wsj.com/articles/millions-of-workers-stay-home-to-watch-young-children-as-daycares-struggle-11635087600?page=1

2nd person to respond to is Rosa

Hello Professors Wallace and Cairns, and Classmates: 

Below are my answers to the week five discussion question:

• What are the most significant changes you have personally seen in hiring requirements in your current or previous organization over the last five years? How do these align with the trends identified in the article you posted?

The article in the Wall Street Journal that I found talks about work from home and what that means to salary expectations. This trend already existed before the pandemic but increased dramatically for many companies that had to adapt to remote work. It included the aspect of hiring and attracting talent. I believe remote work is the trend that has affected companies tremendously and that it will continue to do so in the post-pandemic world. As the author says, remote work does not mean the employee needs to get a pay cut. However, homework needs to be done analyzing the equivalent salary of a person working in headquarters or an office space, how much the will employee save in parking, eating out, and calculate the starting salary with those numbers in mind. (1)

• Does your HR leadership team talk with business unit leaders about the trends that will impact workforce needs over the next five years? Why or why not?

Yes, they are, and they should. They need to be talking because hiring and retaining people in a shifting work environment (100% remote, hybrid, Office) has many challenges for Human Resources. They need to ensure equality in hiring, promoting employees who will be working in different structures. They also need to ensure the management team is spending time with each employee that is not in the Office via weekly meetings, lunch opportunities, discussing work and nonwork subjects, and staying connected to the people they lead in the organization. (2)

• What are the biggest threats (either from competitors or market conditions) in the recruitment and talent development areas your organization faces?

Currently, there is a crisis of open jobs, resignations, and labor shortages. Companies need to be flexible in their options to their workers, add benefits to office workers such as high-end snacks, provide spaces for collaboration (small, medium, large), and make attractive offers and incentives to attract and retain the best talent. (3) 

• What will your workforce look like in 10 years if you get it right?

A happy workforce that has adapted to a post-pandemic world has options to work for the company (at the Office, 100% remote, partially remote, hybrid). It looks like a workforce with benefits that impact their wellbeing (wellness programs, parental leave, childcare support, attractive office benefit) and that has a clear path to success in the company. A workforce that knows their manager and their company cares about them and is able and willing to adapt to circumstances like the pandemic and more. 

The three articles below provide great information on the topic of remote work, the technologies that enable it, and how companies can be successful at bringing people back to the Office either full time or part time. They give great insight into what is happening today and the challenges that both companies and workers face as we go back to a pre-pandemic world. 

Best Regards, 

Rosy

References:

1. Kathryn Dill. Oct 31, 2021. Does Working from Home Have to Mean a Lower Salary?. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/does-working-from-home-have-to-mean-a-lower-salary-11635699600?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1

2. Daniel Akst. Oct 29, 2021. Zoom, Slack, Google Hangouts and More: The Hidden Risks of Remote Work.  The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/zoom-slack-remote-work-risks-11635427086?mod=Searchresults_pos20&page=2

3. Alexandra Samuel. Oct 30, 2021. How Bosses can Lure Remote Workers Back to the Office. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/boss-get-remote-workers-back-office-11635531138?mod=Searchresults_pos13&page=1