Will RTO mandates change hiring?

Will RTO mandates change the future of hiring?

Amazon have jumped on the ever growing bandwagon of companies demanding staff return to the office full time. CEO Andy Jassy, states there are significant advantages to face-to-face working. Businesses such as Google, Microsoft, Boots, Goldman Sachs and Manchester United have all made this shift already. The commercial and individual upsides of pre-covid working patterns are being cited.

While many firms are starting to transition back to an office-based approach, recent research by VirginMedia O2 shows that only 40% of firms now have a full-time office requirement. However, the trend is expected to continue with KPMG's survey of CEOs showing expectations of a full return to the office now at 83%, up from 64% a year ago.

 
So what are the implications for talent?

Initially, businesses that implemented a rapid return to the office saw attrition levels increase by 5%-8%. While this sort of attrition is uncontrolled, it often played into a cost-cutting agenda the employers were pushing. During a flat economic cycle this attrition has not caused a dramatic rise in vacancies, but with governments globally pushing growth, a rise in demand for skilled talent is looming.

In recent years talent acquisition has been vastly simplified by the remote working element. The search for relevant individuals could be global with little to no limit to geographic location. This has enabled employers to be more effective in meeting their own demand for talent. Returning to geographic talent pools has massively altered the results of attraction efforts. The volume of relevant candidates has reduced materially and now the key factor for success is in the ability to engage, motivate, and move key talent. It's increasingly not a numbers game.

The trend of returning to office is gathering momentum. The talent landscape is changing rapidly as a result. Attrition levels are increasing as those wedded to WFH seek to protect their reality. The resulting vacancies require more sophisticated methodologies to secure the best talent in tighter geographic pools. The evolution of the talent landscape continues to change rapidly, only those companies keeping pace will secure the talent they need to be competitive.