Doubling down on our commitment to jobs of the future

In the past, whenever the world of business has been caught in the throes of a crisis, executives have looked to the bottom line and slashed costs or driven revenues to steer their companies through to calmer times. This pandemic, however, has us grappling with a different, deeper dilemma that extends beyond fiscal reflexes: given all the uncertainty, what’s the best way to safeguard our workforce by meeting their immediate and long-term personal and professional needs? The companies that invest in finding answers to these question are the ones that will differentiate themselves from their industry peers, and set themselves up for success as we all trudge the hard path from pandemic to recovery. 

Recently, I got together with our global human resources development team to deliberate this very question and our workshop uncovered some interesting ideas. Here are my top-10, not in any particular order.

1. No longer will it suffice to attract and retain traditional talent. The employer value chain must extend to connect, curate and channelize a wider pool of talent. With the pervasive adoption of remote work, businesses can now bring opportunities to more places and people that need them. Hitherto marginalized sections of society can potentially be employed in remote jobs, working from states or countries different from where the job-creating company is headquartered. What’s key is finding this talent, curating teams, and creating pathways for them to be included in the workforce. This will now include previously unincluded workers and talent networks limited by their circumstances from accepting full-time employment. This will give a whole new impetus to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
2. Employees choose belonging, over brand. As people continue to work remotely, losing the traditional socialization opportunities at water coolers and in conference rooms, the value of a company’s brand to its employees won’t hold the sway it once did. Companies that find meaningful, virtual ways to engender a sense of community – ones that support and contribute to personal and professional development – will build a clear advantage. 
3. Employers will need to become mega-platforms for life-long micro-learning. The millions of workers who have been laid off in recent months are a painful reminder of the shrinking relevance of skills in tough and potentially automatable business environments. Eager to bolster existing skills and acquire new ones, workers will increasingly gravitate towards companies that also serve as corporate universities offering not just employment but also the promise of continued employability. This will find increasing favor with talent keen to transition from traditional jobs across industries and workstreams to the occupations and careers of the future. These jobs are almost always at the intersection of digital and human capabilities.
4. Hire for skills, not degrees. Companies shifting focus from degrees to skills will enable a bigger workforce that represents the diversity of our populations, and will help close the all too familiar opportunity and employment gaps. This will mean transitioning to always-on skills-based education and employment infrastructure that embraces not just credentials and certification but fitness-for-job and employment as outcomes.
5. Corporate accountability for personal development. This will be the new norm. With learning and development topping the list of employee aspirations, progressive employers will facilitate, evaluate, and reward not just performance on business goals, but also performance on learning and development goals. Lifelong learners will be valued corporate assets.
6. Trust will be prized work currency. Trust in the leadership, within teams and between individuals is so essential to accelerate the agility and efficiency of teams – especially when the connections are mostly virtual. Low levels of trust mean slowdowns from crippling controls, excessive documentation, and office politics. Embracing trust, and deliberately extending it down the ranks will certainly be on the agenda for smart employers.
7. Flexible benefits that match the needs of each individual worker. Companies employ workers that span three generations and yet few take the time to truly consider the differing needs of each of their employees. Employers who provide flexible benefits, tailored the variety of lives their employees live, will be more successful in attracting and retaining talent. Childcare, eldercare, transportation stipends, affordable housing, exercise subsidies – these various benefits, among many others, help workers at different points in their lives and in various living situations. These kinds of flexible and tailored benefits demonstrate employers’ willingness to support their employees outside of work, so that their employees can perform to the best of their ability at work. 
8. Consumer-grade user experience for employees at work. This expectation will inevitably escalate as personal and professional work environments blur across home and remote offices. Productivity-focused employers will invest effort and resources into employee experience transformations to help employees slide into new work rhythms with greater ease.
9. Now’s the time to build people resilience. Not just the ability of the business, its operations, or supply chains to bounce back, but the coping skills that employees can develop and strengthen when confronted with setbacks at work. Resilient people maintain control of situations, even tough ones, and are able to evaluate new ways to tackle hard problems. Smart companies will make it their business to nurture resilient people leaders.
10. Enterprises must drive purpose. Especially today, when workers demand that their employer define a ‘north star’ – a guiding mission or set of principles to navigate the chaos and uncertainty of today’s world. Amidst the fear and indecision, people are energized when they know why and how their company is different from any other, why their role exists and how they can step up, create value, and make a difference.  

Today, Infosys announced the increase in its U.S. hiring commitment to 25,000 American workers by 2022. This means 12,000 new American jobs, and 12,000 Americans - including community college graduates and workers without four-year college degrees – joining us over the next two years. This also comes with a renewed commitment to all our American employees that Infosys will continue to offer the inclusive, learning, and nurturing environment for all Infoscions to rise to the occasion, help each other, our clients, and the communities in which we live and work. The current crisis will recede, though we can’t say with certainty when this will happen or what exact form recovery will take. But when the current crisis subsides, we do know what it will take for us to be fully prepared and ready to move forward together.