The following is an excerpt from Dan Schawbel, Forbes contributor, published online published October 29, 2014. Read full article here
10 Workplace Trends For 2015
Every year I give my top ten workplace trend predictions for the upcoming year. My objective is to capture all the research and insights that I have tracked through hundreds of studies released by my company and third parties each year, pulling the most significant trends from everything.
The highest level trends are the skills gap, workers dropping out of the corporate system, the use of automation and outsourcing and the pressure for companies to get more lean. All of these factors have created a system where everyone is always under pressure to stay relevant, choose degrees that turn into jobs and constantly reinvent themselves.
While there are a lot of obstacles to the 2015 workplace, there are also a lot of major opportunities with millions of boomers retiring and more remote working. Below are my top ten predictions for the workplace for 2015.
1. Companies hiring Generation Z for internships.
This is happening for two major reasons: 1) companies are trying to close the skills gap (STEM) 2) companies are desperately trying to compete for the very best talent so they have to build brand awareness early and that means high school.
2. More millennials are taking leadership roles.
The problem these new managers are having is that they are unprepared for the positions. They were never trained on how to be good managers and are being pushed into these roles out of necessity – companies are losing older workers and positions are opening up fast.
3. Honesty becomes a revered leadership trait.
It’s only natural that people would want to work under leaders who are open about what the company is doing, where it’s heading in the future and give honest feedback regularly. Social media is continuing to push companies to be more open and for leaders to share more of their activities on a daily basis.
4. The skills gap continues to widen.
This issue will progress until the college curriculum aligns with the current job marketplace. Companies need to start working with colleges so that students get the necessary skills to fill the gap.
5. The continuous job search picks up.
The only thing that companies can do to increase retention rates is by creating a superior work culture where employees have friends, are engaged in their work and get perks.
6. Mobile hiring and the mobile job search explode.
With more people constantly moving around, taking their work with them, companies need to be able to promote opportunities where they are at all times.
7. Social media posts used to attract and retain talent.
People want to work for interesting companies and when they see social media posts, it gives them a better sense of what they are about. They are sick of seeing press releases and corporate websites and want something that is more “real”.
8. Succession planning becomes a top priority.
You will start to see companies hold onto their older workers in order to transfer their knowledge to younger ones. Many CEOs are going to be retiring.
9. Women continue to seize power positions in the workplace.
With trends such as couples not having children, delayed adulthood, and more women attending college, there’s no doubt that we will see more female leaders.
10. More people stepping out of traditional career paths.
Every year we are going to see even more freelancers, both out of choice and out of necessity. Also, freelancing is seen as a more legitimate and obtainable career path these days due the Internet and the accessibility it’s given people.