{"id":14611,"date":"2021-02-16T20:51:17","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T20:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailypay.com\/?p=14611"},"modified":"2023-10-06T14:16:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T18:16:29","slug":"future-workplace-demographic-technological-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailypay.com\/resource-center\/blog\/future-workplace-demographic-technological-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Future Workplace Mixes Demographic, Technological, and Business Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As businesses seek to maximize their workforce potential, there is a need to understand and adapt to changing expectations of the full worker spectrum, not just newer ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent Source by DailyPay podcast<\/a>, Terri Gallagher, founder of Gallagher and Consultants<\/a>, experts on workforce management, pointed out, for example, that 30% of people aged 65 to 74 are expected to remain in the workforce and \u201ctheir skill sets are very high in demand.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, \u201cthe balance of power is really shifting more toward the workers, versus top down,\u201d Gallagher observed. This is happening as businesses deal with millennials and Gen Xers, whom she described as having \u201can autonomy of purpose.\u201d  She noted that social entrepreneurship is very attractive to them plus, with technological changes,  \u201cthere\u2019s this definite instant everything now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of gig work opportunities also contributes to this change in worker expectations and requires attention from businesses. According to Gallagher, almost half of millennials are using gig workforce platforms to find work. But she also notes that those workers over 55 are \u201cthe highest in demand in the gig economy right now.\u201d Older workers are staying in the workpool as she observes that \u201cthe talent economy abolishing retirement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For employers, \u201cthere\u2019s this recognition that there\u2019s a need to adjust practices, and businesses have really fallen behind in using some of these tools to attract and maintain talent,\u201d Gallagher said. Those in HR and talent acquisition \u201care really struggling with how to accommodate this new workforce, and still fit that into some of these older [workforce] paradigms.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses, especially in light of the need to adapt operations due to the pandemic, are waking up. The very difficult adjustments needed because of COVID-19 created \u201cthis really great perfect storm of things to disrupt some models that maybe didn\u2019t work,\u201d according to Gallagher. \u201cWe\u2019ve had basically 10 years of digital workforce transformation in three months, and the workforce has become more distributed,\u201d she said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the dynamics behind the changing workforce pool has been spurred on by new technological tools workers expect to leverage in their jobs. HR and talent acquisition are asking: \u201cWhere do we start? What platforms do we use? What technology do we use?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An example of that is on-demand pay, also known as earned wage access. \u201cWhen you look at a lot of these workers that are coming in as independent consultants  . . .  they\u2019re paid instantly,\u201d said Gallagher. \u201cWhy can\u2019t we translate this into this new workforce environment so we\u2019re now accommodating the worker?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that this is something that needs to be part of that attraction strategy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallagher said businesses need to rethink the employee value proposition by recognizing “the way they want to work.” Employers need to start “helping employees at all levels understand how they can benefit from arrangements made from these new platforms,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With businesses adapting to this changing workforce climate and breaking down old workforce paradigms, what about the government?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallagher said: \u201cI\u2019m certainly not a political analyst, but everything about Biden\u2019s platform is that he\u2019s very much a proponent of ensuring that workers are treated with dignity, and that they receive the paid benefits and workplace protections that they deserve . . .  but I can tell you, with a lot of people in my space, the gig workforce space, there\u2019s some concern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concern is around efforts, such as in California, to fit this potential third type of worker in with longstanding, existing definitions of employment, an effort that was diluted somewhat with the passage of state Proposition 22 in the most recent election. \u201cAgain we\u2019re getting back to that model that is aligned with something that is no longer relevant \u2014 an employment construct that went out of business and that doesn\u2019t really apply to the way that we work today,\u201d Gallagher said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Biden has \u201cgot to be a bit more creative and strategic around how he executes on what this looks like, and maybe consider that third category of worker,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cI think we have to be careful. It\u2019s like touching butterfly wings. If you put too much regulatory rigidity constraints around some of these alternative sources of income, they\u2019re going to go away, and so I think that\u2019s the balance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can access the full podcast and subscribe to other Source by DailyPay episodes here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DailyPay is the recognized gold standard for on-demand pay delivery, sometimes called earned-wage access, and also partners with the Bipartisan Policy Center <\/a>to help bring more awareness of policies that can assist Americans in building financial security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For additional resources on this topic, see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n