Half employers expect staff back in the workplace ‘most of time’

In next six to 12 months, 51% of organisations expect their employees to be back in the workplace most of the time, according to the latest ManpowerGroup research.

Approximately a third (36%) will offer a hybrid work with more remote work, with 5% offering flexibility shift patterns. However, only 4% plan to shift to full remote work.

Additionally, as more vaccines are approved and rolled out, 43% of employers have no plans to enforce vaccination, confirms the study. Around a quarter (23%) said they will encourage it instead by promoting the benefits. Just 16% of companies will require employees to be vaccinated; with 4% saying they will require vaccination for workers in specific roles. The other 14% remain ‘undecided’.

GLOBAL HIRING OUTLOOK

As vaccine rollouts progress, 77% employers expect to return to pre-pandemic hiring levels by end of 2021. Hiring outlooks for the second quarter also improved in 24 of 43 markets, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey of over 42,000 employers. Employers report more positive employment outlooks than last quarter in 24 countries, weaker in 16 and unchanged in 3.

Employers in India, Hong Kong and US are most optimistic about returning to pre-pandemic hiring by end of 2021. Organisations in Germany, France, Netherlands and Poland are least optimistic. The strongest hiring outlooks reported in Taiwan, US, Australia and Singapore; the weakest in Panama, UK and South Africa.

RETURNING OPTIMISM

“We continue to see evidence of a two-speed recovery, where people with in-demand skills and those organisations that are digitising most are thriving, while others are at risk of falling behind,” commented Jonas Prising, Chairman and CEO of ManpowerGroup. “As more vaccines are approved and employers have implemented strong safety protocols to avoid full shutdowns in workplaces where people must be on site, we are seeing the beginning of more hiring optimism for the months ahead.

“We still have a long way to go in this recovery, yet these results point to positive trends in many industries. Now is the time to equip people with the digital and soft skills employers need as demand is likely to rise as organisations continue to accelerate their digitisation plans.”

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