Talent Trends 2021

Science fiction has often tried to help us predict what certain aspects of life will be like in a distant tomorrow. When describing work in the future, it has always included psychedelic buildings with levitating elevators, robots, or hyper-speed rotating doors. What science fiction could never have imagined is a future of workers making Zoom calls while being unable to get their microphones to work, stuck with unwanted filters making their faces look like a cat’s and their children screaming “The Imperial March” from Star Wars into their ears. Until only recently, the future of work was characterized by the encroaching envelopment of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. In today’s world, the disruption brought by COVID-19 is also helping to our future.

LLYC has identified two major lines of transformation in 2021 that will affect the company-talent relationship. The first is tied to the disruption caused by the pandemic and will affect the way teams work together and are managed. Issues related to working from home will gain significant importance in this regard. These include desynchronization (from where to when); the creation of hybrid face-to-face/online models, in which personal life is even more essential; a need to review managers’ leadership and management skills; the development of collective innovation models; and the prioritization of mental health in talent.

The second line is much longer-term but has also been accelerated by the current situation. It centers on the transformation of the relationship between companies and their talent. Phenomena such as the growing surge of activism among employees will be joined by a need to rethink the stages that traditionally comprised career models. Alongside this is the importance of senior talent, with an aging population having to withstand the constant pressure to reskill and upskill – something that is only increasing with the development of exponential technologies.