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Advice for Employers and Recruiters

5 Workplace Woes That Didn’t Exist 20 Years Ago

William Frierson AvatarWilliam Frierson
December 16, 2013


Figures at a table trying to solve problems

Figures at a table trying to solve problems. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Over the last 20 years there have been several significant changes in the workplace. Because of these changes, and changes in society itself, there are new workplace problems that have never popped up before. Some of these gripes are easily fixable, while others will require even more changes in society and the workplace. So, what are some of the biggest problems at the office?

Work on the Go

In the past, technology didn’t allow people to take their work with them wherever they went. Today, you can work on your desktop, laptop, tablet, and cell phone from any place. You can even transfer files quickly and easily from one device to another. This has caused a lot of workplace problems for many people.

Taking your work home with you has become much easier, leading to a breakdown in the home/work balance. While there are benefits to this, such as being able to work anywhere in the world at any time, it has also become a hassle to company owners, managers, and employees alike.

Lack of Loyalty

One of the biggest problems that managers and owners are seeing today in the workplace is the lack of loyalty from employees. Millennials are making up a large portion of the job force. These employees have a tendency to job-hop. In fact, the median employee tenure in 2012 was 4.6 years. If employees are leaving their jobs frequently, and many millennials have said that they happily leave a job after two to three years, they aren’t exemplifying loyalty to the company.

This can be frustrating and expensive to employers. When an employee leaves, you need to put out ads for a new employee, train them, and ensure that they’ll work well for the company. This all takes time and money.

High Energy Costs

Fuel prices today are higher than they’ve been in the past. Unfortunately, this means that the cost of running a business is higher, as well. Many companies are feeling pressure in their pocket books simply from the day-to-day operations of the business. You need to make sure that you’re able to run everything in the office while not breaking the bank.

One way that many companies are doing this is trying to conserve energy and go green. This can get costly too, however. Luckily, there are sites such as www.electric.com that show you how to go green while staying affordable.

Push to Telecommute

In counterpoint to the first point, another workplace woe that has come up because of technology is the push to allow telecommuting. More employees would prefer to work from home than come into the office. While telecommuting can save money on operational costs, it can also be stressful from a management standpoint.

Not only are you not able to oversee the employees when they aren’t in the office, but you have a much harder time ensuring that they’re working the hours that they claim. In addition, depending on the type of job you are hiring for, it may be difficult to get the logistics of telecommuting figured out. However, there are more people each year requesting to be able to work from home. In addition, there are more companies allowing this all the time.

Finding Properly Skilled Workers

In the past, people got trained for the jobs they planned to go into. Today, it’s difficult for hiring managers to find employees with the right skills. While many employees have degrees, they may not have the experience or proper knowledge for the positions they’re applying for. In some areas, such as engineering, there’s a significant lack of properly educated potential employees. However, in other areas, there are too many potential candidates with the proper education. This inequality makes it very difficult for those hiring.

Many of the workplace issues that we are seeing today are simply because of new technologies. In 20 more years, we’ll be hearing about workplace problems we would have never thought of today.

Author Bio: Joe Fortunato is a freelance writer from Tampa, Florida. He enjoys learning about new subjects, following his Baltimore Orioles, and traveling the country for fishing. You can find Joe on Twitter at @joey_fort.

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