The Road Ahead in 2023

The often-used saying “may you live in interesting times” seems very applicable to 2022. Coming out of Covid some of us may have found ourselves wishing for simpler times. However, here we are at the end of another challenging year and hopefully looking forward to a restful festive period.

For our last post for 2022 we thought it would be useful to look ahead and see what we expect for 2023. New Dawn have been talking to our customers and our colleagues in the industry and here are a few things that you may need to consider.

Extra Bank Holiday – An extra bank holiday has been confirmed to mark the Coronation of King Charles III. It will fall on Monday 8 May 2023, which is two days after the Coronation, and is in addition to the bank holidays already scheduled in May (Monday 1 May and Monday 29 May). Have you accounted for this? Have you checked your contracts of employment? 

Flexible Working – This is well and truly on the agenda for next year. We’re keeping an eye on the progress of legislation that will allow employees to request flexible working from day 1 of their employment, and we’re monitoring the discussion around working from home and 4-day weeks. Where, when and how we work is part of a large conversation that affects recruitment and retention of staff, and productivity.

Menopause – This has been a hot topic for the last 12 months and is showing no signs of slowing. It is to become a more prominent subject for consideration in the workplace. Apparently, Primark have already launched a menopausal clothing line designed to ease hot flushes. 

The global population of peri-menopausal and post-menopausal women is projected to grow by 47 million women a year, to 1.2 billion globally by 2030. This will have impacts in the workplace and shall form part of the continued push for greater diversity and inclusion.

Mental Health – The team has seen a sharp rise in the number of queries we’ve received over recent months that relate to mental health matters. Whether it is an issue with attendance, performance or relationships and conduct within the workplace, staff resilience is low. As we approach Blue Monday in January, we believe this could worsen. 

For ways to work with staff to improve their resilience please contact us.

Recession – Loath as we are to highlight this, 2023 will see challenges on all fronts and we will all have to tighten our belts (if we are not already doing that). Predictions are that it will not be as bad as 2008, but organisations will be looking where costs can be cut which may impact on staff levels and staff welfare. 

If you need support with change please contact us for practical guidance with a responsible approach. 

Recruitment – Activity in the jobs market is slowing, but hard-to-fill vacancies continue to be a problem particularly in the healthcare and logistics sectors. CIPD’s Labour Market Outlook Autumn 2022 reported that 44% of employers had increased pay in a bid to recruit hard-to-fill vacancies, but only 24% of employers were willing to increase pay in further recruitment exercises. This should indicate a reduction in the risk of being gazumped when recruiting a candidate or feeling pressured to increase new starter salaries. 

Skills and Training – There is already a much-documented skills shortage in the UK, but all is not doom and gloom. There are some great training opportunities available and upskilling your employees is a great way of engaging and retaining staff – it also benefits the business. Looking after your employees is always important but never more so in our current climate.  

New Dawn delivers a number of training courses, so please get in touch to learn more or visit here: www.newdawnresources.co.uk/services/training/tab/courses

Whatever 2023 has in store for us all New Dawn will be there to advise and support your organisation. Until next year, have a wonderful holiday time.