Changes in the workplace

It seems that there was always an undercurrent of unhappiness among employees at so many companies. Those feelings of unhappiness were masked because people needed the money that they earned in order to pay their bills etc. Sometimes, it was more convenient to work for a company that was just down the road than move somewhere else that involved a longer commute etc. And some people just turned up at their day job because it helped fund their other life as a performing musician, or as a karate instructor, or whatever. And, mixed in with all these disaffected people were people who were quite happy in their work, and even people who really enjoyed it.

In early 2020, with lockdown and fear of catching Covid, many people started to re-evaluate their life and lifestyle. Many people asked themselves these questions: On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very depressed and 10 is ecstatically happy, where am I? Let’s the suppose that the answer was a ‘7’, then they probably carried on as they were. If the answer was a ‘5’, they might then ask themselves what would have to be different for me to become a ‘6’. This is what led to so many people moving house and the Great Resignation (aka the Big Quit).

Beginning in early 2021, the Great Resignation is an ongoing economic trend in which employees have voluntarily resigned from their jobs en masse, Apart from job dissatisfaction, other suggested reasons given for so many people leaving the work force are wage stagnation with the cost of living rising, safety concerns of the Covid pandemic, and people wanting to work for companies with better remote-working policies.

In July, a McKinsey study found that 40% of workers globally plan to leave their jobs in the next three to six months. Looking at people who left their jobs between April 2020 and April 2022, the report found that 17% did not return to the workforce, 48% moved to a different industry, and 35% took a new job in the same industry. That means 65% of leavers moved out of the industry they were in previously. And that’s a lot of vacancies to fill.

The inaugural Tech Work Report from A.Team and MassChallenge found that 44% of tech founders and execs say that a significant number of their top performers have exited due to the Great Resignation. 67% agree that the traditional recruitment process is broken and needs an overhaul. 62% say it takes 4 months or more on average to hire top product and engineering talent. 80% say they’re willing to hire someone without a college degree for any role.

The report goes on to say that 73% of tech companies now have integrated teams of freelancers and full-time employees. 71% agree that bringing on freelancers or independent workers gives their business greater agility during times of economic uncertainty, and 70% say that remote work has made them more likely to bring on freelancers. 62% believe shifting to a more flexible work model during the pandemic has increased employee productivity, but 37% say they intend to work from the office more over the next year.

That’s great news for freelancers, who are increasingly attractive to tech founders and execs in times of economic uncertainty. 42% of respondents said freelancers or independent workers make up over one-quarter of their total workforce.

71% of tech founders and execs claim that economic uncertainty has made them more likely to bring on freelancers or independent workers. The same number also believes that doing so gives their business greater agility.

There are some people who really enjoy working at home (no commute, now worries about parking, etc) and there are those who really enjoy office work (getting out of the house, interacting with different people, etc). The report found that 62% of tech founders and execs surveyed think shifting to a more flexible work model during the pandemic has increased employee productivity. Only 13% disagree with that statement.

The figures do seem to indicate that there’s something fundamentally wrong with a lot of organizations that so many people are jumping ship as soon as they get the opportunity (or as soon as they find themselves with the financial stability to do so). It can’t be that all of them aren’t very good at their job or that they are workshy. It must be something about the working environment – the ethos of the company – that is not as good as it could be.

Flexible working is something people seem to value. The ability to leave the office for dental or doctor’s appointment, or to be present when your 8-year-old is playing in a concert at school, or it’s Sports Day. People seem to work harder when they are trusted to get a job done and not micro-managed.

Self-determination theory identifies three innate needs that, if satisfied, allow optimal function and growth for an individual. Satisfying these needs will keep employees happy and less likely to leave the company. The needs are:

• Autonomy – when a person is autonomously motivated, their performance, wellness, and engagement is heightened rather than if a person is told what to do.
•  Competence – giving people unexpected positive feedback on a task increases their intrinsic motivation to do it, because positive feedback fulfills a person's need for competence.
• Relatedness – we’re social creatures who enjoy positive interactions with others.

If people aren’t getting these needs fulfilled at work, then they are likely to leave.

For mainframe-using sites, the question they have to answer is whether they are losing mainframe staff. If they are, it seems that freelancers and independent staff might be the answer. It might also be the right time to look at the company ethos and see whether the needs of the individuals who are employed are being met.