The Rise of the Emergent Workforce
Despite the current economic downturn or perhaps because of it, more and more workers are self-directed, self-motivated and self-reliant, taking charge of their own careers and searching for a balance between life and work. Their employers, however, are often not keeping pace. A new Spherion Emergent Workforce Study® indicates that the consequences of inaction could be disastrous.
Less than a generation ago, typical American workers put their fates in the hands of big organizations and essentially set their careers on auto – pilot; the employer did the rest. It told them when to me to work and when to go home; what to do and how to do it; when they would be promoted and when they would have to wait for advancement; how to dress and how to behave in the workplace. This was, for many employers, a predictable and relatively stress-free work life.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the 21st century, forever altering the lives and expectations of American workers.
According to new data from a workforce study commissioned by Spherion and conducted by Harris Interactive, that “traditional” employee now represents only 21% of the American workforce – down from 34% in 1997. Traditional employees have been replaced by a new breed that Spherion has dubbed the “Emergent Workforce”.
Moreover, an increasingly plentiful segment of workers – nearly 50% are classified as “migrating” from a traditional to an emergent mindset. If this trend continues unabated, which seems likely, Spherion expects that by 2007, 52% of the US workforce will be emergent and only 8% traditional.
For employers that have moved toward an emergent style of management, this is good news. But for what appears to be the majority of employers, continued reluctance to “emerge” will make it increasingly difficult, if not impossible to compete for talent.
Difficulties will arise because of a growing mismatch between employees and employers, and that mismatch will be intensified by a growing labor shortage in coming years.
The Evolving U.S. Workforce
|
Type of Worker
|
1997
|
1999
|
2003
|
2007
|
|
Emergent
|
20%
|
22%
|
31%
|
52%
|
|
Migrating
|
46%
|
49%
|
48%
|
40%
|
|
Traditional
|
34%
|
29%
|
21%
|
8%
|
The fear of change by employees has begun to evaporate as they can manage their own careers, with or without an ongoing permanent employment connection.
Who are these Emergent Workforce? They don’t wear signs, says Jan Wahby, senior vice president of Spherion. They might not even respond to the term if they heard it applied to them.
They are more concerned with opportunities for learning and growth; they feel more in control of their careers and want an employer that rewards them based on performance. The Emergent Workforce defines loyalty not by longevity but by the value of their contributions to on organization.
According to the study, they cross all boundaries including age, education, industry, size of company in which they work and level in the organization. These 21st century worker can be identified by new attitudes and expectations rather than by their demographic group.
Why has this happened?
In many respects, the inception of the Emergent Workforce can be traced to the massive layoffs that swept through corporate America in the early to mid 1990s. Where once the traditional values of employers were fostered by corporate benevolence and the promise of lifetime tenure, the “rightsizing” movement tore apart the traditional fabric and left many employers, whether or not they’d been personally laid off, with a stark sense of vulnerability and a mistrust of employers.
As a result, employees began to realize that they needed to gain some measure of control over their own careers. With that realization employers began to go out into the world, selling their services and charting their own paths, they could function as “free agents”. Even when the economy improved and full employment beckoned, these workers were not anxious to return to traditional ways of working. While they often did return to corporate jobs, their expectations and their orientations were forever changed.
Today, in the wake of more corporate belt-tightening, the high – profile collapse of both mainstream and dot – com companies, the September 11 tragedy and the ongoing war against terrorism; employee priorities have continued to shift. The sense among employees that they can control their own careers has increased. And as the workers in the Spherion study indicate, they’re looking for balance in their lives as well. In fact, 73% of respondents said they would be willing to move their careers to the back seat for their families.
The change in worker attitudes and expectations is evident and there are lots of firm beliefs these days about work / life balance. There is a sense of independence that was much less prevalent in the past.