Rebecca Lancelles-Foskett
Senior Manager - Midlands
“I don’t want to work from home anymore.”
By Rebecca Lancelles-Foskett – Senior Manager – Midlands
A quote that we never thought we would hear through 2020 – 2021 “I don’t want to work from home anymore” and the shift has been unprecedented. Despite the rising costs of travel and train strikes in the UK our HR network across the Midlands are asking more from us with our interview processes; candidates want to have their interviews face to face (Teams and Zoom is so 2022!) they want to be in the office a minimum of two days a week and they want businesses to be encouraging connectivity and engagement.
The decrease in remote roles has been steady through the latter stages of 2022 due to the increasing importance of talent management and employee engagement. Within our current job portfolio 20% of our HR assignments are remote / home based which are proving more challenging to support on in comparison to 2021 – 2022. HR professionals want to have a work life balance and flexibility but want to be part of a team and be in an office which creates a “we” culture not a “me” culture. This is putting more pressure on businesses to be creative with the benefits they offer their employees and review how they invest in their office space and their development programmes internally.
The Midlands is home to a diverse and thriving business community, with a range of industries and sectors and we are currently seeing a strong appetite for talent across Learning and Development, Payroll and Reward and HR Business Partnering. Our Midlands business has seen an increase in recent months across our transport, travel, logistics and non-for-profit sectors, looking ahead we anticipate this to continue with a desire for more fixed term contract options as we move into the second quarter of the year.
So… what does this mean for HR in the East and West Midlands in 2023?
Our prediction is, competition will remain fierce, HR professionals will select roles on their working culture in the office, an increase in fixed term contract positions, an increase in HR Projects, Organisational Design and Talent Management positions.
Please do get in touch with me if we can support with HR hiring in your teams over the coming months or if you would like to attend one of our events that we will be hosting in Birmingham this year.
Rebecca Lancelles Foskett – Midlands Lead
