How job market and employment has changed

If the latest trends in job market and employment field is anything to go by, employers have drastically changed the employment terms and process for anyone seeking for a job in the 21st century.
Employers are constantly looking for ways to improve productivity while at the same time constantly looking for ways to lower the cost of production.
Working environment has drastically changed with technology and innovation being the driving force behind all these. Tasks that would otherwise require tens of people are now being carried out by one or two people and in some cases humans are completely replaced by machines or tech systems that have been put in place.
The outbreak of Covid-19 has further pushed employers to look for smarter ways to cut the need for physical work places and have since embraced remote co-working.
Here are a number of ways the job market and the employment field has changed

1. Contractual Employment

More and more employers are moving away from permanents and pensionable employment commitments and now contractual terms are wide spread. Employers are preferring to offer short term contracts to employees with no guarantee of contract renewal.
While most job seekers do not prefer such arrangements, employers are finding it a safer way to reduce labour costs at work places while at the same time ensuring that they only keep highly productive employees.

2. Remote Working

Never has there been a time when employers highly adapted and embraced remote working than now.  Apart from reducing the costs associated with renting larger spaces to accommodate employees, costs associated with travel expenses and accommodations have highly reduced with many now preferring virtual meetings and remote working.
Companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter have indicated that they may still allow their employees to work remotely even past Covid-19

3. Automation

Most employers have woken up to a realization that by automating duties and tasks highly reduce the cost of production and enhances productivity.
Tasks that would otherwise be carried out by tens of people are simply automated highly reducing overdependence on human labour. At the same time, automation results in smarter and more accurate decisions and results way beyond human abilities. Manufacturers are employing machines and robots to perform tasks while most companies are heavily investing in softwares and applications that can offer real time solutions.
On the other side, this has heavily affected job seekers who cannot compete with machines and these programs put in place. Job losses has also been on the rise with such moves as employers sooner or later discovers they no longer need your services.

4. Employers prefer multi-skilled candidates

With the ever changing job market trends, employers are becoming a little reluctant to hire individuals who have specialized only in one field and now they are looking for individuals how posses more than one skills.
A business management candidate with digital marketing skills will likely be hired than one with knowledge in one field alone.

5. Street smart over book smart candidates

In a world where qualifications on the certificates has failed to match with skilled possessed by a candidate, employers are preferring candidates who possess the necessary skills rather than the necessary papers.
Personally I have met computer science graduates who struggle with booting a computer, communication and media students who can’t do a report or have no idea concerning Content Management Systems (CMS).
It is for this reason you will be shocked to find out that most media personalities around who take home hefty checks have no background in journalism.
READ:How you can easily move from a job security to financial freedom.

6. Technology takeover

In the fourth industrial revolution, technology will continue being a major part of the workplace. Tech enthusiasts prospect that this technology will liberate workers from routine work and improve their productivity. However, some foresee massive displacement of jobs and labor substitution.
Experts warn that both job seekers and employees who fail to embrace the ever changing world of technology and acquire relevant skill to help them keep up with the changes in the tech world risk loosing their relevancy.

7. Social Media

Both job seekers and HR managers can leverage on the power of social media to market themselves and get the right people respectively.
Platforms such as LinkedIn are some of the best tools job seekers can use to list their skills.

8. Job evaluation

With employers seeking to maximize productivity and profits, job evaluation has highly been adapted by most companies. Most companies evaluate their workers with a keen eye on their productivity to determine whether they are meeting the employers expectations or not.
Job evaluation also provides employers with key indicators on how best they can as well improve and invest in their workers. With continuous training and offering workers with refresher courses, employers can help workers work towards achieving their targets effectively.