i-exchange explores how COVID-19 is transforming work places and providing access to broader, and previously untapped, talent pools.
As 2019 ticked over into 2020, Australia faced an unprecedented bushfire emergency. With our regions and cities in the grip of raging flames and acrid smoke, we all hoped for cooler weather and better times ahead.
What we got instead was the worst global pandemic for more than a century. From the first diagnosis on January 25 to a total of more than 27,750 cases by mid-November, Australia has battled to keep people safe, businesses afloat and the economy ticking over.
Businesses have had a particularly hard time due to a range of social distancing restrictions and lockdown measures. Some have gone under while others are struggling through.
Yet recruiters are facing unexpected opportunities to access bigger, broader and previously untapped talent pools.
As companies pivot into flexible work from home arrangements, employees have options to work in new, more diverse and inclusive ways.
Staffing levels fluctuate in 2020
According to the Australian Government’s National Skills Commission, businesses rapidly shed staff at the height of COVID-19 social restrictions in April.
At this point, 32% of businesses across the country decreased their staffing levels. Only 4% increased them. In September, 9% of businesses reduced staff and 9% increased staff – both a definite improvement on April figures.
Yet fortunes were mixed. In September, 11% of Australia businesses had staff standing down and 23% had staff working reduced hours. Victoria, as expected, fared the worst. That state’s strict lockdown was reflected in dramatic figures for September – one in four businesses with staff standing down and 44% with staff on reduced hours.
According to Roy Morgan research, published in November, 70% of working Australians have had their employment impacted by the pandemic.
In September, out of 15.5 million working Australians, 10.8 million reported a change to their employment. Examples include:
- 4.2 million (27%) now working from home
- 3.1 million (20%) having work hours reduced
- 2.3 million (15%) with slowed or stopped business activity
- 2.2 million (14%) with an increase in work hours
- 1.6 million (10%) stood down for a while
Victoria bears the brunt of economic pain
Most Australian states and territories fared relatively well during the pandemic, especially compared to the experiences of the rest of the world. They all suffered various COVID-19 scares, leading to a range of restrictions.
A significant breach of hotel quarantine in Victoria, however, led to a major outbreak peaking at more than 700 daily cases state-wide in July. This was a new Australian milestone. As a result, the state went into strict lockdown lasting the best part of three months.
The economic impact was severe. While it had the desired effect, driving Victoria’s COVID numbers down to zero by late October, it sent a wrecking ball through the state’s business enterprises. Retailers, trades and service industries were forced to shed workers, stand them down or reduce their working hours just to survive.
As Roy Morgan shows, close to four-fifths of working Victorians – 79% – reported a change of employment due to the pandemic. That’s 10% more than any other state or territory.
The next most impacted state was New South Wales (69%) then Tasmania (68%). Both states experienced their own COVID outbreaks and subsequent lockdowns. The states suffering least employment impact were South Australia (58%), Western Australia (63%) and Queensland (65%).
Working from home the new normal
Global Workplace Analytics estimates that 25-30% of the workforce is likely to be doing home-based work on multiple days a week by the end of 2021.
Pandemic restrictions have set a new benchmark for remote working, forcing many Australians to work from home. Yet the percentage varies across industries and sectors.
Not surprisingly, the Recreation and Personal sector has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Close to nine-in-ten industry workers (89%) report COVID-related employment changes in the Roy Morgan survey. After all, most personal trainers, beauticians and swim instructors rely on in-person customer interactions to carry on trading. Only a quarter of workers in this industry have been able to work from home.
Other sectors are experiencing a surge in the number of workers with a home office. Some of the industries most affected by COVID restrictions are embracing remote working.
The percentage of the workforce now operating from home includes 65% in Finance and Insurance, 59% in Communications, 55% in Public Administration and Defence, and 47% in Property and Business Services.
Tech companies drive remote working
According to IT News, a range of IT retailers, financial groups and service organisations are experiencing a boom in home working driven by the pandemic.
This has enabled organisations like Telstra, AMP, Flight Centre and NIB Group to search more widely for talent and employ workers from many geographical areas.
NIB Group CEO Brendan Mills says this has opened the door to employing quality workers across Australia and overseas. Before COVID-19, the group required workers to live within a certain distance of their workplace. Now that barrier has been removed, the group is exploring offshore resources.
As Innovation Intelligence International reports, the drive to home-based working is freeing up both workers and employers. As home-based workers move to regional towns for cheaper housing and improved lifestyle, they are still available for employment across Australia and beyond.
Online and remote collaboration has worked so well for Telstra that all contact centre team members are now set up to work entirely from home, IT News reports.
Despite technical glitches and challenges of connecting everyone up to the internet, tech-based corporate organisations have overwhelmingly moved to embrace home-based employment.
Leaders look to boost diversity
The pandemic has shone a spotlight on flexible work arrangements in Australian business.
Leaders will need a new and more diverse working model in a world defined by COVID-19, as reported by the Australian Financial Review.
Hassell research shows that men, managers and over-50s are most likely to want to return to office-based work on a permanent basis. Women and under-30s workers, on the other hand, want the ongoing flexibility of working from home.
Many workers have been juggling the overwhelming demands of parenting and caring for elderly family members for years. The pandemic has offered many of them the chance to create a far more harmonious balance between working and caring duties – without the time and money usually lost on commuting, travel and dressing for the office.
Smart employers are now rethinking the way they do business. And smart recruiters are tapping into this new and growing pool of workers all looking for more flexible and inclusive ways to engage with the workplace.
A positive trend for people with disability
According to Jackie Leach Scully, director of UNSW Disability Innovation Research, the pandemic has also helped Australian business understand what disabled workers have known for years – that working from home is both desirable and achievable.
As reported by SBS, Jackie says ‘ableism’ discrimination has long been a barrier to people with disability entering the workforce.
Problems accessing the workplace and coping with one-size-fits-all technology have kept talented candidates out of great jobs. Sometimes these workers just don’t feel they are competing on a level playing field in terms of job applications and interviews.
Living with complex regional pain syndrome, Emily McIntyre says: “I think it’s time for organisations to actively seek out people with disabilities and say: ‘Great, you’ve got the tech, we’ve got internet connection, here’s a screen, here’s a laptop, let’s get you connected’.”
How remote work broadens the talent pool
When remote working is on the table, more candidates can be considered for roles that previously excluded them. For this reason, remote and home-based work gives recruiters access to a broader, more diverse talent pool.
Flexible work helps candidates overcome some of the inequalities they face in the physical office setting.
Income
Those on lower incomes or living in outer suburbs are often unable to access high-end city-based jobs. They are more likely to apply for jobs closer to home, reducing candidate diversity in large, centralised organisations.
Culture
Candidates from diverse backgrounds can face a number of cultural challenges in the traditional workplace, often having to work harder to ‘fit in’ to an established company culture which is narrow or prescriptive.
Expectation
Many organisations have a one-size-fits-all approach to work processes and protocols. For instance, those with specific needs or sensitivities must adapt to open-plan offices when they prefer their own space, or listen to music when they need quiet to work effectively.
At home, workers can tailor their office spaces for maximum productivity – think standing desks, green outlooks and optimising personal work rhythms.
As the pandemic recedes, home-based work patterns look set to remain . . . good news for recruiters keen to cast a wider and more inclusive hiring net.
Contact i-exchange for a confidential discussion to help de-risk the future.
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