The past two years have marked a tumultuous, rapid-paced period of experimentation in new ways of working, fundamentally reshaping perspectives on professional life and its future. The ongoing pandemic era has served as an unprecedented global laboratory, prompting a profound re-evaluation of established norms and accelerating shifts in organizational culture, talent dynamics, and societal engagement. While many questions remain open and data continues to evolve, a clear framework of emerging trends has coalesced around four critical dimensions: Purpose, People, Process & Policy, and Polarisation & Activism. These interconnected forces are not merely transient responses to a crisis but represent enduring transformations with significant implications for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in an ambiguous and fast-changing global landscape.
This comprehensive analysis delves into these four pivotal areas, offering a holistic view of the seismic changes in the world of work and their profound impact on DEI strategies. For those preferring a more focused examination, each topic is also available as a separate, shorter article on the Inclusion Nudges blog, covering People, Process & Policy, Polarisation & Activism, and Purpose.
The Reawakening of Purpose in the Workplace
Since the onset of the life-altering pandemic in early 2020, individuals across the globe have engaged in a profound search for personal purpose, questioning how their professional lives align with their deepest values. This existential introspection, intensified by widespread lockdowns and health crises, has compelled many to ask fundamental questions: "Is this job truly worth my energy and time?" and "Does it contribute meaningfully to my life’s purpose?"
A significant U.S. survey, conducted by McKinsey & Company, revealed that nearly two-thirds of respondents were actively reflecting on their purpose due to their pandemic experiences. This re-evaluation has fundamentally altered the implicit work model that often demanded immense personal sacrifices for career advancement. The traditional motivators of higher compensation and career growth, once primary drivers for job changes, are now frequently secondary to a quest for more purposeful work and an improved lifestyle. An August 2021 global survey by Edelman highlighted this shift, finding that nearly 60% of employees had either left or were planning to leave their jobs to find roles better aligned with their personal values, while 50% sought improved lifestyles.
This purpose-driven shift transcends generational divides. In the U.S., millennial workers were three times more likely to be re-evaluating their work. Concurrently, in the U.K., the number of employees over 50 opting for early retirement more than doubled since the pandemic began, signaling a widespread desire for greater alignment between work and personal fulfillment, or a complete exit from the traditional workforce. While not all job departures are solely attributable to a lack of purpose, it has undeniably emerged as a crucial consideration.
The lockdowns starkly illuminated how pre-existing work models often inhibited the pursuit of personal purpose, particularly for marginalized groups. The long-documented dual burden faced by many women in managing both professional and domestic responsibilities, while not new, became undeniably visible and unsustainable during the pandemic. This "unavoidable, stark realization" finally spurred a collective acknowledgment that the old ways of working were failing to support a healthy, connected, and fulfilled life for many. The result has been significantly higher rates of burnout and resignations among women with caregiving responsibilities. Globally, women’s employment declined by 54 million (4.2%) in the first year of the pandemic, compared to a 3% drop for men, underscoring an urgent need for healthier, more integrated work models.
When purpose becomes a central consideration in work, employee engagement typically increases. However, a persistent "intention-action gap" has long plagued organizations. Pre-pandemic research by PwC showed that while nearly 79% of business leaders acknowledged the importance of purpose, only 34% actually integrated organizational purpose into their decision-making. Furthermore, many struggled to cultivate an environment that fostered employees’ sense of personal purpose beyond corporate objectives. The pandemic has drastically shaken this complacency, forcing employees, managers, leaders, stakeholders, organizations, and society alike to confront the meaning of work, making this gap unsustainable.
Reflective questions for leaders and organizations might include: How do we foster an environment where employees can connect their personal purpose with their professional contributions? What policies and practices can we implement to alleviate disproportionate burdens, particularly on women and caregivers, thereby enabling a more holistic integration of work and life? How can we bridge the gap between acknowledging the importance of purpose and actively embedding it into organizational decision-making and culture?
The Evolving Landscape of People and Talent
As economies and organizations strive for recovery, talent has emerged as the critical differentiator. The pandemic has fundamentally shifted the balance of power, empowering employees to voice their expectations regarding what attracts and retains them within an organization. This era has given rise to "The Great Resignation," a phenomenon characterized by unprecedented numbers of workers voluntarily leaving their jobs.
A March 2021 global survey by Microsoft revealed that over 40% of employees were considering leaving their employers within the year. While researchers note that a rising resignation trend predated the pandemic, the crisis dramatically accelerated it. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics illustrated this surge, with 4.3 million voluntary quits and 10.4 million open jobs in August 2021 alone. Similarly, the U.K. recorded over 1 million open jobs during the same period. These figures highlight a long-term concern: Willis Towers Watson reported that 70% of U.S. employers anticipated the talent gap would persist into the following year, with 61% struggling with employee retention. Even Germany, the EU’s largest economy, saw an 11% jump in companies worried about a lack of skilled employees, reaching 34.6% by July 2021.
Analysis by Harvard Business Review indicated that resignation rates were most prevalent among mid-career professionals (up 20% from pre-pandemic levels), particularly in high-demand sectors like technology and healthcare. While high turnover in service and hospitality sectors continued, the pandemic brought increased public awareness and empathy for often poor working conditions. A notable shift also includes a rise in "Rage Quitting," where workers impulsively leave jobs due to unbearable negative work environments, underscoring a diminished tolerance for exploitative or toxic workplaces.
The pandemic has sharpened the focus on the imperative to value employees and cultivate inclusive workplaces with fair labor practices and policies. In a climate of pervasive uncertainty, some individuals experience stress, while others are catalyzed to rethink their situations and pursue new opportunities. Quitting, in this context, has become an active declaration that "we can do better." With employees increasingly aware of alternative work options, organizations can no longer afford to overlook how workplace culture and employee experience directly impact talent attraction, retention, organizational success, and broader economic growth. A "people-centered" work culture is not merely a desirable trait but a fundamental component of "The Great Reset" and "build back better" initiatives guiding post-pandemic recovery.
However, the narrative is not solely one of voluntary departures. "The Great Divergence" highlights profound inequalities in the economic recovery. Many pandemic-era employment changes were not "Great Resignations" but rather involuntary job losses, exacerbating a global employment crisis. OECD countries recorded 20 million fewer people in work since the pandemic’s start, with over 110 million fewer jobs worldwide. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated global hours worked in 2021 to be 4.3% below pre-pandemic levels, equivalent to 125 million full-time jobs, with low-paid sectors disproportionately affected. While global unemployment slightly decreased by May 2021, it remained higher than pre-pandemic levels. An inclusive approach to talent and employment is thus crucial, embracing the full spectrum of pandemic-era shifts and striving for greater fairness for all people. This moment presents an unprecedented opportunity for profound systemic change.
Reflective questions for leaders and organizations might include: How are we actively listening to and understanding the evolving needs and expectations of our diverse workforce? What proactive steps are we taking to address the drivers of the "Great Resignation" and mitigate the risks of "Rage Quitting"? How can we ensure our recovery strategies are inclusive, addressing the "Great Divergence" and creating equitable opportunities for all, particularly those disproportionately affected by job losses and reduced hours?
Rethinking Process and Policy: The New Social Contract
Periods of significant change invariably expose the inadequacies of the status quo, offering invaluable opportunities to reassess, design, and experiment with innovative solutions. The pandemic intensely spotlighted not only where work is performed but also how it gets done, leading to major upheavals in the social contract between employees and employers. Workers now exhibit a diminished tolerance for outdated norms such as workplace "presenteeism," lengthy office commutes, rigid formal dress codes, subpar working conditions, unfair compensation, discrimination, a false belief in meritocracy, low control over their work, "always-on" availability expectations, excessive business travel, feelings of isolation, and a pervasive lack of well-being and psychological safety. Issues like gender inequality in family care, long overlooked, have also been brought to the forefront.
It has become unequivocally clear that many traditional workplaces were based on unhealthy, outdated norms that no longer align with current realities. This necessitates that organizations promptly reset and clearly communicate new policies regarding work location and methodology.
One of the most significant policy shifts revolves around work location. Emerging data, while sometimes conflicting, consistently indicates a strong desire among various demographic groups (e.g., by generation, gender, level) 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 expected to have wide-ranging social ramifications, including increased employee diversity, improved work-life balance, and expanded talent pools as geographical proximity becomes less critical.
However, many employees expect more than just one day of remote work weekly. Estimates suggest up to two-thirds of workers are willing to quit if remote work is not the norm. Pre-pandemic, remote work arrangements were often ad hoc, leading to biases, placing a heavy burden on managers, discouraging employees from making requests, and fostering perceptions of unfairness. Research conducted by Lisa and Veronika Hucke in 2019 revealed that senior males predominantly utilized remote work options, while working mothers faced stigma, and junior staff feared requesting it due to concerns about appearing "not serious." The collective global experience with remote work during the pandemic now presents a crucial opportunity to rectify these historical inequities and establish equitable, well-defined policies.
Crucially, the process of creating these new policies is as important, if not more so, than the policies themselves. An approach designed in isolation risks being unfit for purpose, leading to low acceptance, underutilization, and exacerbated inequalities. A multi-country survey of knowledge workers revealed an alarming disconnect: 66% of executives reported designing post-pandemic workforce policies with little to no direct input from their employees. This top-down approach also correlates with executive overconfidence, with 66% believing they are "very transparent," while only 42% of workers agree. Such a lack of engagement from the outset jeopardizes the success of new policies.
The pandemic-era serves as a collective call to action: policies must be rigorously assessed for their fit with current and future needs. This requires leveraging data, incorporating input from all levels of the organization to co-create solutions that integrate behavioral insights, and implementing policies with agile experimentation.
Reflective questions for leaders and organizations might include: How can we actively involve employees in the co-creation of new work policies to ensure they are fit for purpose and perceived as fair? What data and behavioral insights are we using to inform our policies on work location, flexibility, and well-being, moving beyond anecdotal evidence? How can we ensure that new policies address historical inequities and prevent the creation of new forms of exclusion, particularly for groups who benefit most from flexible arrangements?
Navigating Polarisation and Fueling Activism in the Workplace
As societies emerge from lockdowns, a complex mix of emotions—sadness, loss, fear, lack of control, and anger—pervades, spilling over into broader societal dynamics. Research from 17 countries revealed that 60% of people felt more divided than before the pandemic, a 30% increase from pre-pandemic rates. This growing societal polarization directly impacts the workplace.
New challenges arise, such as "no jab, no job" policies, where vaccination requirements for office return or client interaction ignite passionate debates. While some view these policies as essential for public health, others perceive them as an infringement on personal liberty. Global frustration and fatigue are high, evidenced by over 50,000 pandemic-related protests. "COVID rage" manifests in increasing reports of customer abuse towards workers, particularly in hospitality and service sectors, where up to 80% of employees have witnessed or experienced such incidents. Against this backdrop, widening inequalities in vaccine access exacerbate the divide between the "haves" and "have-nots," further impeding equitable economic recovery.
Beyond pandemic-specific polarization, a long-term erosion of trust in public officials and civic institutions has been accelerating. An August 2021 global study 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 ignited a global surge in Black Lives Matter and anti-racism activism across over 60 countries, pushing issues of inequality and discrimination to the forefront of societal and workplace discussions.
Employees are now explicitly expecting and demanding that their workplace leaders take a stand on key social issues. A global Edelman survey in August 2021 found that up to 76% of employees expected this, with 60% feeling empowered to be change-makers in their workplace. A significant 75% globally stated they would take action to advance urgently needed changes within their organization, with 40% willing to go public through whistleblowing, protesting, or social media posts. Furthermore, in the U.S., there has been a resurgence of interest in labor unions to safeguard human rights and influence organizational culture redesign. October 2021 alone saw over 25,000 workers on strike, compared to an average of 10,000 in the preceding three months, signaling a powerful reassertion of worker agency.
Despite these clear shifts, many organizational leaders may not have fully grasped the depth of this transformation. The same global survey revealed that only 48% of employees believed their employers were actively acting on 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 the silent executive on DEI issues is over, as is the tolerance for empty public statements without concrete action. The new standard demands inclusive leadership characterized by demonstrable allyship through action.
Reflective questions for leaders and organizations might include: How are we fostering open dialogue and psychological safety within our organization to address potentially polarizing social issues constructively? What is our strategy for taking a principled stand on critical social justice and equity issues, ensuring our actions align with our stated values? How are we empowering employees to be change-makers while also providing channels for constructive feedback and ensuring their safety and well-being when engaging in activism?
Closing Notes: Shaping the Future of Inclusive Work
The pandemic era has undeniably accelerated a complex interplay of forces reshaping the world of work. From the profound re-evaluation of personal purpose to the empowering shift in employee dynamics, the imperative for agile and equitable policies, and the heightened calls for corporate social responsibility, the landscape for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has been irrevocably altered.
This summary of emerging workplace trends, initially presented by Lisa as an HR Master Class for Legal Island, underscores the critical need for leaders and organizations to engage in deep reflection. The challenges and opportunities presented by these shifts demand a proactive, empathetic, and data-driven approach to DEI and inclusive leadership. Organizations that authentically integrate these learnings into their strategies will not only thrive in the evolving talent market but also contribute to a more just and sustainable future of work.
For organizations seeking to navigate these complexities, several Inclusion Nudges can support critical reflection and action:
- Show Data to Easily See Problems & Do Actions: Utilize data to reveal inequities and guide targeted interventions.
- Reveal Gaps in Flexible Working to Increase Use by All: Systematically identify and address barriers to equitable flexible work adoption.
- Flexible Working as the Default & Norm: Design flexible work as a standard, not an exception, to foster inclusivity.
- Ask Flip Questions to Change Your Perceptions in the Moment: Challenge assumptions and biases in real-time decision-making.
- Anti-Xenophobia Campaign Realising What We Lose: Highlight the value of diversity by illustrating the losses incurred through exclusion.
- Alternative to Diversity Excuses: Confront and overcome common justifications for inaction on DEI.
Further insights and practical guidance can be found in additional blog articles, including the series "The Pandemic-Era Shifts in Work & DEI" (available as separate articles on People, Process & Policy, Polarisation & Activism, and Purpose), "Ally by Actions – Not by Posting on Social Media," "Ally Through Empathic Perspective Taking," "Ask Lisa & Tinna: How Do I Create New Inclusive Workplace Models?", "Reframe Language on How We Work Today," and "Ask Lisa & Tinna: How Can We Ensure Intersectionality is Best Reflected in KPIs."
For advisory consulting, coaching, and speaking engagements to help your organization address these critical shifts, please contact us at [email protected].
