The fourth wave is coming, and what does the labor market have to say about it?

In telegraphic terms, it can be stated: "The wave itself, and the market itself." Never before has the job market been so strong. There is a shortage of hands literally everywhere, and the servers of job portals are heavily loaded. The Central Bureau of Statistics reports that in the second quarter of 2021, the number of people working in our country was 16,597 thousand. This represents a 1% increase in the number of employed people compared to the first quarter, but already in relation to the second quarter of 2020, by as much as 2%. This growth clearly shows that all kinds of predictions about the collapse of economies, whether Polish or global, were greatly exaggerated. Unemployment in our country is one of the lowest in Europe, with 5.8%. It can be cautiously said that Poland has come through this difficult time with a dry foot, and our entrepreneurs have handled the situation remarkably well.

It is the candidates who deal the cards

Recently, it has been a period of great challenges for managers or management companies. They had to quickly find their way in the new realities of the employee market. Whoever did it best and smartest - gained. An important factor in the change in managers' attitudes was the attitude toward remote work. The pandemic and the accompanying sanitary restrictions, in a way, forced this model of work. Employees saw the advantages of such work, and while it is obvious that many people want to work from the office, if only for the basic reason - we need each other, physical contact with our society, many people still want to work remotely. Before the pandemic broke out, nearly half of managers were willing to delegate their employees to work remotely. At this point it is, up to 75%. This shows the magnitude of the change that is taking place in the labor market, and we are only talking about one factor here.

The form of work and its results

Another important factor is control. From the declarations of the employees themselves, the lack of monitoring of their work by their supervisor has dropped from 35% to 30%. Tele- and video-conferencing has also dropped as part of remote work. Of course, monitoring itself has remained, but it has become more "mature." What do we mean by this term? This is a complex issue. In general, it's about focusing on the key, most important areas of the business - maximizing the essentials and overlooking areas that don't have as much impact on the outcome of the task. Despite this, as employers themselves admit - the effectiveness of remote work has increased. Remote work is, on the one hand, a challenge for employers, managers, but also a great opportunity to attract an excellent specialist. "Availability" of professionals who work from virtually anywhere has increased dramatically. And when we do find them, we have to make sure that we take proper care of them, and that they are motivated, satisfied and want to stay with us. Professionals know very well what the current market is like and "turn up" their expectations

Stability in the company - how to do it?

The answer to this question seems to be quite short - listen to employees. When listing the factors by which a company can describe itself as stable, it occupies the first important, unremarkable place. We observe that an increasing number of people are talking about values, wondering why they are where they are, why they need this job, what their goals are. Employers and managers should listen as well. To listen, and to listen deeply. Financial gratification alone is no longer the only criterion. It currently occupies a "necessary" but further place. The pandemic itself has "allowed" many people to slow down a bit and rethink, reevaluate many things.