Shopify recently outlined a new communication standard for employees. The company is clearing employee calendars of all recurring meetings with more than three people and restricting all meetings to Wednesdays. Staff is also encouraged to decline or remove themselves from meetings. The result is expected to remove nearly 10,000 events, which equates to more than 76,000 hours of meetings.
Microsoft’s US employees are getting unlimited time off. In a leaked memo seen by the Verge, Microsoft is calling its unlimited time off “Discretionary Time Off,” and it will apply to all salaried US employees. The changes started on January 16th and mean even new Microsoft employees no longer need to wait to accrue vacation time. Microsoft will offer ten corporate holidays, leaves of absence, sick and mental health time off, and time away for jury duty or bereavement alongside this new unlimited time off policy. Employees with unused vacation balances will get a one-time payout in April.
What’s the data say?
According to the CIPD’s Resourcing and Talent Planning Report 2022, 68% of organizations that offer hybrid/remote working reported that it has allowed them to attract and retain more talent.
Arecent study by Muse found that out of 2,500 people surveyed, 72% experienced “surprise or regret” after starting their new role, suggesting their expectations of the role weren’t met.
The total number of remote tech positions is falling, according to the latest job report from CompTIA (based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Lightcast, which collects and analyzes millions of job postings from across the U.S.). The data presented is raw numeric drops – more positions in November than in December. For example, December listed six thousand seven hundred eighty remote IT Support specialist roles, down nine hundred fifty from November.
On the security front, the global cybersecurity workforce grew to encompass 4.7 million people, reaching its highest-ever levels, according to (ISC)2 2022 workforce study. That study also found that there is still a need for more than 3.4 million security professionals, an increase of over 26% from 2021’s numbers. This reverses a trend in the 2021 study, where the number of open cybersecurity jobs dropped over two years.
Why do we care?
Employers continue to tweak how the work world looks, and here are two trends playing out. Let’s address the idea of unlimited time off. While seemingly entirely good for employees, let’s note it also takes the liability for vacation time off a company’s books, and without the culture change that encourages the use of time off… it’s lip service. That isn’t necessarily what is happening at Microsoft. Let’s observe that as benefits go, it’s not as clear-cut as one might think.
Employee hiring and retention remain a priority – so here’s the data on what’s happening.