The Reimagined Workplace a Year Later: Human Capital Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic | The Conference Board

The Conference Board recently identified four significant human capital and talent challenges firms will face in the months ahead. The four challenges are based on survey responses of 231 human capital leaders (mostly from larger firms) and include: 1) Adjusting to a world where a large share of employees primarily work remotely; 2) Recruiting qualified workers and retaining existing workers, 3) Addressing deteriorating employee well-being, and 4) Managing the return to the workplace. Regarding the challenge of recruiting qualified workers, 87% of respondents say they are now willing to hire remote employees in some form, compared to less than 50% before the pandemic. Also, 50 % of respondents say they are willing to hire predominately full-time remote workers if those workers can occasionally commute into the office. Concerning return-to-work, 72% of firms are planning to reopen in the next six months for their remote employees (22% between May and July 2021; 50% between August and October 2021), while 10% have already returned or never closed. Other ideas are discussed in this 13 -page report.