4 THINGS EMPLOYEES WILL WANT FROM EMPLOYERS FOLLOWING COVID-19

As someone who spends a majority of their time on social media, listening to Gen Z, working with them, and learning from them, I've had the opportunity to really dive into what a lot of Gen Z and Millennials feel the best employers will offer following COVID-19. 

1. MORE FLEXIBILITY

One comment I see increasingly more than others is that employees expect their employers to work with their schedules and approve of additional ways to work outside of the traditional office setting.

I personally don't have a child, but I have several friends who do. 

When their child is sick, they end up using their vacation days just for the opportunity to check in on them every now and then. Additionally, I know I've had 24-hour bugs or stomach bugs that, for the most part, wouldn't disturb my ability to work. It would be more comfortable to work from home in these situations. 

This ideal was popular even before COVID-19. Some of the best companies for employees, like Google, give their employees the opportunity to work in ways that decrease their stress levels and allow them to take care of themselves and their families without causing harm to their companies. Certainly following this pandemic, most desk jobs can be performed remotely. It would be disheartening if companies refused to allow this once and a while considering how well most employees have adapted to this model.

2. ESSENTIAL WORK PAY

Another ideal that is strongly supported by generations coming up in the work place is the idea that, in times of national crisis, those who are still required to work should get bonuses for putting themselves at risk.

In our nation, we've considered fast food and grocery store workers essential. Many of these workers already do not collect paychecks that are large enough to support their family. 

If employers are asking these employees to put themselves in harms way, a bonus should certainly be considered, especially because many of these types of companies didn't suffer much during COVID. Restaurants laid off their servers, but continued to get orders.

I will say that, personally, I feel some essential work such as police, nurses, and EMT, may not need these bonuses. While it would be nice, these workers already have a dangerous job where they can come in contact with ill or dangerous people. 

3. MORE INFO ON LAYOFFS AND FURLOUGHS

From what I've seen, more potential employees will place emphasis on a company's history of lay-offs and furloughs during the interview process. Employees want to work for companies that do their best to retain their workforce in times of crisis.

When COVID-19 first hit, several campaigns to boycott certain companies for their lay-offs spread throughout social media. Employers should expect questions including, "when was the last time you laid off employees" and "should a crisis such as COVID-19 hit again, what is the probability that I would lose my job."

We all know that COVID-19 has been tough on company overheads, and potential employees should certainly tread lightly when asking these questions, but they are worth the ask.

4. TRANSPARENCY

Transparency continues to be a problem in most business models. When CEOs are not honest about their company to their own employees, it makes for a harder time when hard times hit!

Employees want to be involved in the decision making process. To be honest, most managers, CEOs, and administrators don't know what their employees deal with on a given day because many are busy with other company projects.

This causes employees to get frustrated when funding is cut or jobs are cut. They don't know what's going on, which leaves them with a bad experience that they will undoubtedly share with future employees and customers. 

If you're reading this as an employer, I hope you'll take these things into consideration. So many people are asking for these, and they are relatively simple to give or educate on. If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below!