For our first blog of 2022, Director Dwayne Kelly predicts that 2022 will be the year of change, growth and normality. See what this may mean for work ethic, leadership and the Australian market as a whole below.
It’s a New Year and I’ve just returned from the office shut down. After what has felt like a long and much needed break, it’s occurred to me that not once during my break I thought about the work year ahead. The realisation that I completely switched off for four weeks has been strange for me, as it’s the first time I’ve experienced in my 13 years of Recruitment.
This realisation was quickly followed by panic and guilt. Am I unprepared for the year to come? Have I slacked off? Is my passion for Recruitment dying?
But I don’t believe it’s any of those things. I think the last two years have been a rude awakening for most. Some of us have excelled and made more money than before, some have seen unparalleled success through promotions or starting their own businesses, some (including a few very close to myself) have jumped on the ‘Great Resignation’ train and rode it to a new profession.
Due to the trends overseas, I believe that 2022 we’ll see hierarchy be flipped on its head. Employers will be the ones chasing new staff like they never have before. If leaders within a business do not step up and adapt to what their employees are asking of them, their businesses will end up short staffed and struggling.
Gone will be the Directors and Managers who lack moral and emotional intelligence (whom we’ve all encountered unfortunately). The dinosaurs who rationalise their decisions by saying “that’s what we’ve always done” and chosen not to adapt or invest in themselves will no longer get the loyalty and respect they demand.
New ideas, concepts and incentives will need to be adopted – hell, who would have thought that two years ago we would be predominantly working from home.
Incentives to bring people onboard will no longer consist of higher salaries and titles. They’ll come due to flexible working arrangements, working from home set ups, shorter days and longer breaks, more holidays and less meetings (geez it sounds like we really love our jobs doesn’t it).
If anything, the past two years has shown us what is most important in our lives. With work usually taking the back seat. Freedom, flexibility, family, security and friends are now most people’s top priorities.
With the threat of lockdowns diminishing, vaccination targets hit, borders reopening and international students returning I believe 2022 could reshape the way we work, live and think.
2022 will be the year of change, growth and normality.
Staff shortages across multiple industries will slowly decrease with international students re-entering and the changes that have been introduced to student visa working hours. Hopefully vaccine adaptions and decreased isolation times will also soon address the logistic and supply chain issues we’re seeing globally.
Ordinarily, I would suggest that this year may have signaled the end (for a period) of large-scale Government infrastructure announcements and investment, however with impending Federal and State elections happening this won’t happen.
2022 has the chance for us all to regroup, revaluate and invest in ourselves. It will be the breath of fresh air we need, and a chance for us to succeed and realise goals that may have been a pipe dream only a few short years ago.
Dwayne is one of the Directors of Fetch Recruitment. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here or apply for jobs here.
