What Top Talent Expect from Post-Pandemic Hiring

As the economy begins its slow climb back from the crippling fallout of COVID-19, companies are beginning to hire again. According to a recent survey 19 percent of CEOs of small and medium-sized businesses said they plan to increase their workforce in the next 12 months. And 28 percent said business has increased as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. 

With an overnight switch to an almost entirely remote workforce, over two months of practice with distributed teams, and increased alarm around the spread of disease, work environments have arguably changed for good. So how will these changes impact top talent’s expectations in a post-pandemic world? 

Here are five predictions for what top talent will expect from companies who want to hire or retain them.

What Will Top Talent Expect from Post-Pandemic Hiring? 

1. Candidates will value benefits more than ever. While salary is always important in a job offer, healthcare will matter more to job seekers than it did pre-pandemic. Consider offering more attractive healthcare benefits including HSAs and FSAs to attract and retain top talent.
   
2. Candidates will value flexible work locations more than ever. According to a recent survey, 62% of employees said working remotely positively affects engagement. And only 4% said working remotely has a major impact on their day-to-day performance. 
   
3. Candidates will no longer accept long daily commutes. According to data from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government the average DC metro area commute as of January 2020 was 43 minutes one-way. That amounts to spending over two weeks annually in traffic. Now that corporate America has proven that it can operate out of home offices, talent will expect employers to honor requests for working at least once a week from home. 
   
4. Candidates will expect flexible schedules. Working from home during the pandemic put a spotlight on workers who had additional responsibilities of caretaking and homeschooling. Moving forward, workers will expect that employers have awareness that they have full lives at work and outside of work and this impacts the typical work schedule. The mentality of clocking in and clocking out from 8-5 is over. Output matters. Who turns off the lights at the end of the day at the office or turns the coffee on in the morning no longer does. 
   
5. Candidates will expect their employer to show more holistic concern for their wellbeing. Gone are the days of colleagues having no shared experience other than the workplace. Now that the entire population has experienced shared trauma, top talent will expect employers to express concern for their employees’ wellbeing, including prioritizing mental health, whether through personal days or making sure healthcare benefits include counseling. 

Much of the future outlook is still unknown, but one thing is for sure: companies will need top talent. Start thinking now about how you will attract and retain the talent you need.