Changes in the Labor Market: What Are Employees Asking for?
As the pandemic has changed the ways of accomplishing tasks and telecommuting has gained ground in all markets, flexibility in terms of where and when to work will be one of the factors most valued by employees in this new reality.
Thursday, June 3, 2021
The threats caused by the spread of Covid-19, caused companies globally to look for new ways of working. Most teams chose to readjust their dynamics and focused on promoting remote work.
Managing teams and meeting organizational objectives were the most important challenges at the beginning of the pandemic, as changes in the ways of operating meant leaving traditional methods behind.
In this context in which vaccination plans are advancing and in some countries a new normality is returning, business leaders are busy visualizing the future of the labor market.
According to some research that has been conducted, most workers now prefer the flexibility of being able to work at home, however, there are those who wish to return to the office. The challenge for companies will be to reconcile these trends.
Martesfinanciero.com reports that according to the study conducted by EY "Work Reimagined Employee Survey 2021", it states that "... 9 out of 10 employees interviewed want flexibility in terms of where and when they work. Additionally, 54% say they are likely to quit if they are not given the flexibility they want, with millennials being twice as likely to quit as baby boomers."
The article adds that "... this represents a great challenge for organizations that intend to assume this new scheme as permanent and must provide all the means for this scheme to be truly sustainable over time. Of particular relevance are the areas of Human Resources, which today more than ever must become a strategic ally of the organizations in this transition".
Around one-fifth of respondents expect to continue working fully (five or more days) in the office after the pandemic and almost two-thirds want to continue traveling for business after the pandemic (compared to 49% in the June-July 2020 survey), the publication highlights.
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In Panama, a legislative project was submitted which intends to gradually reintegrate the employees to their companies, which have already restarted their activities and which in 2020 suspended labor contracts due to the crisis caused by the outbreak of covid-19.
According to the legislative body, the bill which legalizes the gradual reintegration of the suspended contract workers to their companies and which will be in force until the end of the year, has been pending in the National Assembly since February 8, after the Minister of Labor, Doris Zapata, delivered it to the Presidency.
Faced with the sudden change that the new normal generated in companies, employees are challenged to increase their skills to work remotely, adapt to more flexible contracts and refine their technological skills and cognitive qualities.
Telecommuting has become an everyday occurrence among companies in the region, which have had to adjust to the restrictions imposed by governments due to the outbreak of covid-19.
Restrictions on the movement of vehicles and people, and to some extent, the ban on office work, are forcing companies to reinvent their ways of operating and revolutionize their work culture.
Following the spread of covid-19, strict home quarantines were decreed in Central American countries. This scenario boosted the implementation of teleworking and forced companies to adapt to a new way of operating.
Following the state of calamity in the country, the Ministry of Labor created an electronic procedure, through which companies can temporarily suspend the contracts of their workers.
Ministerial Agreement 140-2020, published on April 7 in the Official Journal, explains that the government measure is temporary and exclusively applicable as long as the circumstances and effects of the covid-19 pandemic, which has been declared worldwide, and its effects on employment contracts persist.
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