The new generations of workers are motivated by completely different reasons than the older generation and it is crucial to respond to their needs and create a workplace that will keep them content for longer.

Therefore, the most essential trends for the coming year focus not only on providing the employer with reliable, dedicated and solid employees but above all on the employees themselves, thanks to whom the modern labour market is shaped. As a result, a job that the employees will care about is a job that will give them opportunities for development, freedom of operation and tailored tools to perform their duties.

Flexible forms of employment

If you stick to the standard forms of employment, it is about time to change it. The era of permanent flexibility and the gig economy is coming, which already significantly influences and transforms the world market. These terms are used to describe flexible forms of work that are compatible with contemporary digital lifestyles. It is worth reconsidering how and who should do the job in order to make it effective and efficient.

Delegating work to independent contractors will become a kind of a norm in contrast to the previous employment standards. The employer will be able to hire his employees remotely, which will reduce his office maintenance costs, in exchange for which will be able to find a more expensive but more efficient contractor. Work as a freelancer is increasingly developing in the modern world, giving job opportunities to people who not only prefer to work on their own terms, but are also passionate about what they do that has a positive impact on their lives and the work they do.

Opportunities for remote work

It’s pretty hard to imagine a more effective job than a remote job. Being in the office for a certain number of hours does not always allow employees to demonstrate their productivity, and in addition, by freely performing various exciting projects, they can develop and broaden their horizons, which will positively affect their well-being and the work they do. However, it is worth mentioning that not everyone is suitable for remote work and a perceptive manager should notice whether the particular person works better while being at the workplace or working outside of work.

You can find out more about remote working in our post about the best places to work as a programmer: https://sdacademy.dev/top-10-cities-to-live-and-work-as-a-programmer-the-unobvious-list/

Significance of the English language

It is nothing out of the ordinary to say that foreign languages are useful at work in various positions and are a huge bargaining chip when interviewing for a job or applying for a raise. In the IT industry, English is a basic language, as most programs and Internet forums use it as a communication tool between people from all over the world.

English is considered by many to be a contemporary lingua franca. Although today Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world due to the vast population of the Chinese nation, English is the most widely spoken international language and for more than 80 per cent of those who speak English, it is not their mother tongue.

The significance of English has some roots in colonial times, while presently because of globalisation it becomes a universal language and one which gives a lot of possibilities for communication without significance where one sets off. In the matter of work, due to English, you can acquire knowledge, contacts, and contracts which without the knowledge of this language would simply be out of your reach.

It is also worth mentioning that the proficiency level is quite important, however, in many workplaces the communicative level of English language skills is quite sufficient for the beginning.

Magic of reskilling

According to The McKinsey Global Institute, more than 375 million people by 2030 will have to change their profession and acquire new skills to stay in the labour market. These figures really speak a lot about the modern employment market. The main goal of reskilling is to fill the personnel gap, retrain employees from declining industries to the increasing sectors and provide employees with the opportunity to adjust their skills to digital reality. The benefits are numerous and include reduced recruitment costs, reduced staff rotation and ensuring the safety of project implementation.

HR forecasts for the IT industry indicate that digitalisation will be an extremely important element of the company’s development. It is necessary to give employees the opportunity to acquire new skills and develop these skills in order to develop the company along with them.

Today’s employees do not want to do the same thing for years, they want to be able to develop. Employers are finding it harder and harder to find a suitable employee, so they prefer to train a reliable person to perform other duties than to look for new employees. The win-win situation! If we focus on reskilling and upskilling, both the employee and the employer will gain. And when it comes to modern professions, there are so many of them that everyone can easily match something to their preferences.

More about reskilling and upskilling you can find in our post about A holistic approach to upskilling: https://sdacademy.dev/a-holistic-approach-to-upskilling-the-employees/

Importance of continuous performance management

There is nothing worse than being stuck in a bureaucratic traffic jam and piling up decisions without acceptance. It is very important to regularly meet with the management and set changes or inform about progress on an ongoing basis and not once in a while. Systematic one-on-one meetings can truly work wonders and significantly speed up the work as well as solve small problems before they become incomprehensible.

Today’s labour market requires communication and good interaction, which can be achieved through meetings and conversation rather than through annual summaries. In addition, the system of continuous performance management aims to constantly monitor the work of employees, which not only has a positive impact on the employer, who will receive real results of work of their staff but also the employees themselves, who can demonstrate and thus receive the opportunity to be promoted or increased.

Brilliant startup ideas

There is no denying that in today’s digital world the way people communicate with each other is changing rapidly and significantly. Employees of IT companies and startups require from their employer’s quick communication opportunities, and thus, slowly moving away from standard email in Outlook or Gmail. It is time for modern, innovative solutions that not only improve communication but also provide many other opportunities at your fingertips. Therefore, taking into account the trends in HR for the upcoming year, it is worthwhile to take an interest in applications such as Slack or WhatsApp, which create an ideal alternative to ordinary e-mail in modern workplaces such as IT or start-ups. However, this does not apply to corporations that have quite rigid rules for communication inside and outside the company.

The possibility of using modern solutions is undoubtedly a great advantage, giving greater opportunities for expression and a tool for development. Forecasts indicate that the year 2020 will be very diverse in this matter and will flourish providing a modern company with many great possibilities.

The above trends in HR for the IT industry are among the most important elements of the modern labour market. Due to the changes that come into force because of the digitalisation of many workplaces, the changes affect not only employers but also employees. However, these changes aim to create flexible workplaces and employees who will be open to any changes and improvements which can be considered a positive element of this transformation. Interestingly, we were so worried that artificial intelligence would take over the labour market, although it is growing in strength, it will not deprive creative people with soft skills and a willingness to develop in terms of their jobs.

The following years of HR changes are very interesting, we will see what awaits us, certainly, it will be something very exciting.