Your 2025 Workforce: Here's What It May Look Like

We’ve all seen the impact of a global pandemic on the workplace. Looking ahead, how many of those effects will become a regular part of business? What other factors will change labor and talent pools?

Here’s a glimpse into the future:

PANDEMIC EFFECTS

In the two and half years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, we’ve seen its effect on the workforce in many ways, including:

More workers transitioned to work-from-home or hybrid work.
Many people reevaluated work-life balance, parenting needs, and job satisfaction issues.
Digital transformation forever changed how and where work is performed – creating new jobs and dramatically impacting required skills and experience.

POPULATION AND PARTICIPATION

The period of 2021 to 2031 is projected to see one of the slowest growth rates yet: 0.7% each year, slowing from the 0.9% annual rate of the ten years prior.

Some reasons for this:

Lower fertility rates over the past 50 years
Two decades of reduced international migration
Population growth has been slowing for four decades

In this same period:

Participation in the workforce is expected to decline, from 61.7% of the population in 2021 to 60.1% in 2031. (Participation rates are calculated by dividing the total labor force by the total population of “working-age people.”)
While the U.S. economy is projected to add 8.3 million jobs, fewer people will seek to fill them.

THE AGING EFFECT

An aging population and more people over 65 are the main reasons the labor force participation rate is projected to decline between 2021 and 2031.

But the workforce itself is also aging:

The participation rates of 55-to-64-year-olds and the 65+ age group are projected to climb throughout the decade.

HEALTH CARE NEEDS INCREASE

Your 2025 workforce will likely have an increased need for health care benefits.

Businesses cannot overlook the parts of their human resources and benefits packages that address:

health insurance coverage
absences due to illnesses or surgery recovery or disability
workplace accommodations

An older workforce will have different needs, and your company should plan to meet them.

REMOTE WORK STAYS

Work from home, remote work and hybrid models. What for many started as a temporary adjustment to the global pandemic has become an accepted and desired workplace style that looks to become a long-term norm:

97% of respondents said they want remote work flexibility.
Most of these workers (65%) want to work entirely remotely while 32% desire a hybrid arrangement.
36.2 million Americans will be working remotely by 2025—an 87% percent increase from pre-pandemic levels.

TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERTISE NEEDS INCREASE

A workforce that’s both aging and increasingly working off-site has an increased need for technological expertise, training, and support.

To serve increasingly hybrid and remote workplaces, several occupations will have elevated long-term demand:

Computing infrastructure
IT solutions
Cybersecurity
IT consulting and technical services

Such services are projected to have the third-largest employment increase over the 2021–31 decade with a 0.7% annual rate of change.

THE IMPORTANCE OF UPSKILLING

The circumstances of telework and an increasingly digital economy requires your workforce to consistently refresh their digital skills.

Currently, workplace training is an employer benefit that employees value highly and candidates look for when job hunting:

57% of U.S. workers want to update their skills.
48% of them would consider switching jobs to do so.

To hire the best talent in the next few years, establish and promote a continuous learning environment to keep workers satisfied and keep pace with evolving technological needs.

AUTOMATION EFFECT

Technological advances like A.I. and automation will affect the size of your workforce. But as to how, the data can be unclear.

An online survey of 291 large companies worldwide found that:

43% of respondents expected to reduce their current workforce due to automation or technological integration.
Yet, 34.5% of respondents expected to expand their current workforce for the same reason.

Start building your 2025 workforce today.

A qualified staffing agency can help you:

Plan your long-term workforce needs to prevent gaps and bottlenecks – without overstaffing.
Build a recruiting strategy to ensure you always have access to the qualified workers you need.
Customize training for contingent workers as your needs evolve – so they arrive ready to perform and make an immediate impact.

Contact CornerStone Staffing to discuss your needs and build your workforce of the future.