Credit: Semafor World At Work
The news organization Semafor recently held its second annual World of Work event in Washington, D.C. This event marked the unveiling of global pollster and consulting group Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace Report. This year’s polling was focused on employee wellness and engagement, so World of Work arranged a number of panel discussions with business leaders from across industries as well as academics and government officials.
Employees in the modern workplace
The panels covered a variety of topics from mental and physical health, to general employee wellbeing, but across all panels, two key themes emerged. The first key theme was diversity. Diversity is still a primary focus of businesses, and new trends in employment and accommodations are growing as businesses are having to look in new areas and at new demographics to find the talent they need to continue growing operations.
The second theme was that, in this modern economy, employees have come to expect much more from their employers than in the past. In order to retain their top talent and attract new talent from untapped demographics, companies are finding that they have to step up their offerings. Many top employers are currently in a transition state, as they race to determine the best ways to provide broader support and benefits to attract employees in this ultra-competitive modern job market. There was a lot of discussion at World of Work on which specific supports and benefits to offer, but across the board, it was agreed that this effort is worth it.
Modern Benefits Highlighted
Jessica Harrah, Chief People Officer of Kindercare, highlighted one of these modern benefits in her panel, “Making Work More Family Friendly.” Kindercare operates more than 2,300 daycare and learning centers in 42 US states, and all Kindercare staff are able to utilize this service as an employee benefit. Kindercare also partners with businesses in each locality to provide childcare support for their workers as well.
Kindercare’s polling indicates that the upcoming generation of workers, Generation Z, is the first to rate childcare benefits above healthcare benefits, and as more of that generation age into the workforce, more companies will need to offer these services to remain competitive employers. The simple fact is that if children are not cared for, then employees can not work. Considering that more than half of the US population lives in a childcare desert, or an area where there are either zero childcare providers or so few options that most families are unable to access childcare, childcare is going to become absolutely essential to businesses that want to attract and retain not just the best employees, but any employees at all.
Global Perspective on Employee Benefits
This isn’t an issue unique to the US, either. Japan is also currently expanding childcare benefits and leave for working parents in an attempt to reassure the nation’s youth that they will be supported as they build their families and their careers.
Moving forward, broader employee benefits such as childcare are going to be key factors across the globe in increasing employee diversity, particularly in regards to women and employees from low-income regions. As Senior Advisor of the Project on Workforce at Harvard University Chike Aguh said in the “Building the Next Generation Workforce” panel, “All the people from the usual places, [businesses] have hired them already.” Businesses seeking new sources of talent will need to open their doors to groups that they have historically ignored and overlooked, and the first step is going to be meeting their needs.
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