The past two years have plunged the global workforce into an unprecedented period of rapid-paced experimentation and profound transformation, irrevocably shifting our collective understanding of work and its future. As the world continues to navigate the complexities of the pandemic era, organizations face a landscape characterized by evolving data, open questions, and a compelling imperative to adapt. This period has not merely introduced new operational models but has fundamentally reshaped employee expectations, organizational processes, and societal dynamics, all with significant implications for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). This article delves into four critical areas of this transformation – Purpose, People, Process & Policy, and Polarisation & Activism – examining their impact and the urgent need for inclusive leadership.
The Quest for Purpose and Meaning in Work
The seismic disruptions of the pandemic compelled millions worldwide to engage in deep introspection, prompting a widespread re-evaluation of personal purpose and its alignment with professional life. Early in the pandemic, as lockdowns became widespread and the fragility of life became starkly apparent, individuals began questioning their commitments. A comprehensive U.S. survey conducted by McKinsey & Company revealed that nearly two-thirds of respondents reflected on their personal purpose due to the pandemic experience. Fundamental questions emerged: "Is this job truly worth my energy and time? Does it align with my values?"
This period has seen a significant alteration of the implicit pre-pandemic work model, which often demanded substantial personal sacrifices for career advancement. A global survey conducted by Edelman in August 2021 underscored this shift, finding that nearly 60% of employees had either left or were planning to leave their jobs to find roles that better aligned with their personal values. Furthermore, 50% were seeking positions offering an improved lifestyle. These motivations mark a clear departure from pre-pandemic drivers for job changes, where higher compensation or career growth typically predominated.
The drive for purpose-driven work transcends generational boundaries. In the U.S., millennial workers were found to be three times more likely to be re-evaluating their careers. Concurrently, in the U.K., the number of employees over the age of 50 taking early retirement more than doubled since the pandemic’s onset, signaling a widespread desire across age groups for more meaningful engagement and a better work-life balance. While not all job exits can be solely attributed to a lack of purpose, its emergence as a primary consideration is undeniable.
The pandemic lockdowns starkly illuminated how pre-existing work models often inhibited the fulfillment of personal purpose, particularly by exposing the pervasive costs of unequal and biased workplaces. The long-documented reality of many women shouldering dual burdens in both professional and domestic spheres, for instance, gained unavoidable visibility. This insight, though not entirely new, had not previously catalyzed massive work redesigns. The pandemic, however, forced a collective realization: the old ways of working were unsustainable for fostering healthy, connected, and fulfilled lives. This led to significantly higher rates of burnout and resignations among women with caregiving responsibilities. Globally, in the first year of the pandemic, women’s employment declined by an estimated 54 million, or 4.2%, compared to a 3% drop for men. This disparity demands an immediate response: the creation of healthier, more inclusive work models that allow all employees, especially women, to integrate their personal purpose with work and life in a holistic and sustainable manner.
Prior to the pandemic, research by PwC revealed a significant gap between intention and action regarding purpose in organizations: nearly 79% of business leaders acknowledged the importance of purpose, yet only 34% actually integrated organizational purpose into their decision-making. Moreover, many struggled to cultivate work environments that stimulated employees’ sense of personal purpose beyond the company’s mission. The pandemic has drastically shaken this equilibrium, compelling a re-evaluation of work’s meaning and purpose with profound implications for employees, managers, leaders, stakeholders, organizations, and society at large.
The Evolving Dynamics of Talent: The Great Resignation and Beyond
As economies and organizations worldwide endeavor to recover from the pandemic’s lingering effects, talent has emerged as the linchpin of resilience and growth. A palpable power shift has occurred, empowering employees to voice their expectations for what will attract and retain them. This era has given rise to what has been widely termed "The Great Resignation." A global survey by Microsoft in March 2021 indicated that over 40% of employees were contemplating leaving their employers within the year. While researchers note that a rising resignation trend predated the pandemic, the crisis undeniably accelerated this phenomenon, turning an intent to resign into concrete action for many.
The scale of this shift is significant. In the U.S., August 2021 saw 4.3 million voluntary job quits, coinciding with a staggering 10.4 million open jobs. Similarly, the U.K. recorded over 1 million open jobs during the same period, an all-time high. These statistics raise long-term concerns for employers: a Willis Towers Watson survey found that 70% of U.S. employers anticipated this talent gap to persist into the following year, with 61% reporting struggles with employee retention. Even in Germany, the EU’s largest economy, company leaders expressed increasing alarm over the scarcity of skilled employees, with a substantial 11% jump in concern over three months, reaching 34.6% by July 2021.
Analysis of "The Great Resignation" reveals specific patterns. Resignation rates have been particularly prevalent among mid-career professionals, with a 20% increase from pre-pandemic levels. Sectors like technology and healthcare, which experienced extreme demand and pressure during the pandemic, saw particularly high turnover. While high turnover in service and hospitality sectors continued, the pandemic brought greater public awareness and empathy for often-poor working conditions. Across various industries, there has been an observable increase in "Rage Quitting" – explosive, on-the-spot resignations by workers no longer willing to tolerate negative work environments. The pandemic has undeniably sharpened the focus on the critical need to value employees and foster inclusive workplaces underpinned by fair labor practices and policies.
In a climate of persistent uncertainty, this situation has triggered profound changes. For some, it created stress; for others, it became an impetus for rethinking their careers and pursuing new opportunities. Quitting, for many, became an active declaration that "we can do better." With employees keenly aware of alternative work options, organizations can no longer afford to disregard how workplace culture and employee experience directly impact talent attraction, retention, and ultimately, organizational success and societal economic growth. A "people-centered" work culture must be central to "The Great Reset" and other "build back better" initiatives as the world emerges from the pandemic.
However, the narrative is not solely one of voluntary departures. "The Great Divergence" highlights the growing inequalities within the current economic recovery. Not all pandemic-era employment changes were "Great Resignations"; many were unwanted job losses, exacerbating a global employment crisis. In OECD countries, there are now 20 million fewer people in work since the pandemic’s onset, contributing to over 110 million fewer jobs worldwide. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that globally in 2021, hours worked would remain 4.3% below pre-pandemic levels, equivalent to 125 million full-time jobs. The OECD further noted that the reduction in working hours was most significant in low-paid jobs. While global unemployment saw a slight decline by May 2021, it remained higher than pre-pandemic levels. This demands an inclusive approach to talent and employment – one that embraces the full scope of pandemic-era work shifts and reconfigures talent and employment systems to be fairer for all. This moment presents a unique opportunity for profound, equitable changes.
Redefining Work: Processes, Policies, and the Future of Flexibility
Periods of significant change often provide unparalleled clarity, exposing where the status quo is no longer fit for purpose. The pandemic has offered a valuable opportunity to assess, design, and experiment with new solutions for how and where work gets done, leading to major upheavals in the social contract between employees and employers. Workers are now less willing to accept long-standing norms such as workplace "presenteeism," arduous office commutes, rigid clothing codes, substandard working conditions, unfair compensation, abuse, discrimination, the false belief in meritocracy, limited control over their work, "always-on" availability expectations, excessive business travel, feelings of isolation, and a lack of well-being and psychological safety. The pre-existing norms of work, particularly the imbalance in gender equality for family care, have been brought into sharp relief.
The crisis has unequivocally revealed that many workplaces were built on outdated models, no longer serving the current realities of employees. The imperative for organizations to reset and clearly communicate new policies regarding work location and methodology is immediate.
One of the most significant policy shifts revolves around work location. Emerging data, though sometimes conflicting, consistently indicates a strong desire among various demographic groups (including by generation, gender, and seniority) to continue working remotely. In the U.S., remote work is projected to continue at least one day a week. Critically, the Future Forum Pulse Report highlighted that "the desire for flexible work is strongest among women, working parents, and employees of color, who have shown gains in employee experience scores while working remotely." This shift is anticipated to have wide-ranging social ramifications, as noted by Barclays Investment Bank, including "greater employee diversity, a better work-life balance, and larger talent pools, as location and in-office presence become less important."
However, employee expectations often surpass the offer of one day a week. McKinsey & Company research indicates that approximately two-thirds of workers expect significantly more flexibility and are willing to quit their jobs if remote work is not the norm. Pre-pandemic, many organizations adopted an ad hoc approach to remote work requests, which inadvertently fostered biases, placed a heavy decision-making burden on managers, discouraged employees from making requests, and was generally perceived as unfair. Global research conducted by Lisa & Veronika Hucke in 2019 demonstrated that the vast majority of remote workers were senior males, while working mothers faced stigma when requesting such arrangements, and junior staff, despite desiring flexibility, hesitated to ask for fear of appearing "not serious about their job." The post-pandemic environment presents a critical opportunity to rectify these historical imbalances and establish equitable policies based on widespread remote work experience.
The process by which these policies are created is as crucial, if not more so, than the policies themselves. An approach designed in isolation risks being unfit for purpose, leading to low acceptance, limited usage, and potentially exacerbating existing inequalities. Alarmingly, a multi-country survey of knowledge workers by the Future Forum Pulse Report revealed that 66% of executives were designing post-pandemic workforce policies with little to no direct input from their employees. This isolated approach also correlated with overconfidence among executives: 66% believed they were being "very transparent," yet only 42% of workers agreed. Such a disconnect portends a high risk of failure. The failure to engage the very people impacted by these policies in an inclusive co-creation process represents a significant missed opportunity.
The collective call to action from the pandemic era is clear: policies must be rigorously assessed against current realities and future directions. Organizations must leverage data and input from all levels to co-create new solutions that integrate behavioral insights and implement them through agile experimentation. This iterative, inclusive approach is essential for building sustainable and equitable work models for the future.
The Rise of Polarisation and Employee Activism
As societies tentatively emerge from lockdowns, a complex tapestry of emotions – sadness, loss, fear, a lack of control, and anger – continues to permeate public discourse and, increasingly, the workplace. This emotional landscape has contributed to a growing societal division. Research from 17 countries by Pew Research Center indicated that 60% of people felt their society was more divided than before the pandemic, a 30% increase from pre-pandemic rates.
Within the workplace, new challenges have arisen, exemplified by "no jab, no job" policies. While some view vaccination mandates as a necessary step for public health and safety, others perceive them as an overreach of control. Global frustration and fatigue are high, evidenced by over 50,000 pandemic-related protests worldwide. "COVID rage" has manifested in increasing accounts of customer abuse towards workers, particularly in the hospitality and service sectors, where up to 80% of employees have witnessed or experienced such incidents. These tensions are further exacerbated by widening global inequalities, especially concerning access to vaccines and, consequently, the potential for economic recovery, making the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" starker than ever.
Compounding the pandemic-induced polarization is a long-standing erosion of trust in public officials and civic institutions. A global study by the World Economic Forum in August 2021 highlighted that Millennials and Generation Z harbor such deep distrust that they express "higher faith in governance by a system of artificial intelligence than by a fellow human being." This generation’s disillusionment stems from "ongoing concerns of corruption and stale political leadership, as well as the constant threat to physical safety caused by surveillance and militarized policing against activists and people of color." The tragic murder of George Floyd in May 2020 served as a catalyst, igniting an unprecedented surge in Black Lives Matter and anti-racism activism in over 60 countries, bringing issues of inequality and discrimination to the forefront of societal and workplace discussions.
This heightened awareness has translated into increased employee expectations and demands for their workplace leaders. Global research by Edelman indicated that as high as 76% of employees now expect and demand that their leaders take a public stand on key social issues. Furthermore, employees are increasingly energized to take action themselves if they perceive it as necessary. The same Edelman survey revealed that 60% of employees felt empowered to be change-makers in their workplace, with "75% globally saying they would take action to advance urgently needed changes to their organization, with 40% saying they would go public through whistleblowing, protesting, or social media posts." In the U.S., there has been a notable resurgence of interest in labor unions, viewed as crucial for safeguarding human rights at work and for participating in the redesign of organizational cultures. October 2021 alone saw more than 25,000 workers on strike, significantly higher than the average of 10,000 during the preceding three months.
Despite these clear indicators, there remains a critical gap in leadership response. The Edelman survey found that only 48% of employees believed their employers were actively living up to their stated values. This disconnect risks eroding trust, undermining leaders’ credibility, and diminishing employee engagement. The "Great Resignation" is further fueled by this gap: 33% of employees quit when their employer "didn’t speak out about a societal or political issue the employee felt it had an obligation to address." The era of silent executives on DEI issues is over, as is the tolerance for well-intentioned public statements without corresponding action. The new standard for leaders is to be an "ally by action," demonstrating commitment through tangible steps towards inclusion and equity.
Charting a Course for Inclusive Leadership and Sustainable Change
The past two years have delivered a forceful mandate for change, revealing the vulnerabilities and inequities embedded within traditional work structures. The shifts in personal purpose, talent dynamics, operational policies, and societal polarization are not transient; they represent a fundamental recalibration of the relationship between individuals, organizations, and the broader community. The implications for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are profound and pervasive.
Organizations can no longer afford to treat DEI as an add-on or a compliance exercise. It must be woven into the very fabric of strategic decision-making, policy development, and cultural evolution. Addressing the quest for purpose requires leaders to cultivate environments where individual values can genuinely align with organizational missions, fostering a sense of belonging and meaning for all. Navigating the complexities of talent attraction and retention demands an inclusive recovery strategy that not only responds to the "Great Resignation" by creating compelling, equitable workplaces but also addresses the "Great Divergence" by supporting those marginalized by job losses and economic disparities.
The redesign of processes and policies, particularly around flexible work, offers a historic opportunity to dismantle outdated norms and build truly inclusive models. This requires genuine co-creation with employees, leveraging diverse perspectives to craft solutions that promote equity rather than reinforce existing biases. Finally, responding to increased polarization and employee activism necessitates a new breed of leadership – one that is courageous, transparent, and committed to acting on values, engaging proactively with social issues, and demonstrating allyship through concrete actions.
As we move forward, the onus is on leaders and organizations to embrace this tumultuous time not as a challenge to weather, but as a catalyst for profound, positive transformation. By adopting inclusive leadership principles, leveraging data-driven insights, and fostering authentic engagement with their people, organizations can build more resilient, equitable, and purposeful futures for everyone. This requires continuous reflection and a commitment to action, ensuring that the lessons learned from this unprecedented period lead to lasting, meaningful change.
This article draws inspiration from the research and insights presented by Lisa and Tinna of Inclusion Nudges, including their contributions to an HR Master Class for Legal Island, acknowledging their dedication to supporting DEI change-makers.
