Future of Work Trends Post-COVID-19: Long-Term Impact and Actions for HR | Gartner

As the pandemic continues to reset work trends, HR leaders are simultaneously rethinking and adjusting workforce, leadership, and employee experience strategies. Based on a survey of 400+ HR leaders and 300+ finance leaders and conversations with more than 4,000 employees and HR executives, this Gartner report identifies the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the future of work and the implications business leaders should anticipate for their organization. According to the report, there is nine future of work trends ranging from a) organizations prioritize resilience as much as efficiency, b) wider use of contingent workers and c) critical skills are no longer synonymous with roles. As it relates to the latter, many organizations will redefine “criticality” in terms of skills (rather than roles) that drive the organization’s competitive advantage. Such an approach has implications for other talent practices such as: workforce planning (e.g., planning for skills vs. solely roles), total rewards (e.g., paying a premium for specific skill sets vs. a job), and career development (e.g., helping employees develop critical skills that prepare them for multiple opportunities rather than a specific role), to name a few. For each of the nine trends, a set of recommended HR actions are provided.