Business leaders say economic uncertainty threatens to wind back ‘pandemic progress’ in the workplace: LinkedIn research

Ashutosh Gupta, Country Manager – India, LinkedIn

Nine in 10 business leaders in India believe economic uncertainty threatens to wind back “pandemic progress” in the workplace, according to research by online professional network LinkedIn, released on Monday.

The research found that flexibility and employee benefits introduced during the pandemic are now at risk due to the ongoing economic uncertainty. It noted that 91% of business leaders said that the current economic climate could threaten flexible working, while other areas of work life such as learning and development (90%) and employee wellbeing (89%) are most likely to be affected too.

“More than two-fifths of India’s business leaders are looking to reduce employer learning and development budgets and opportunities (43%), and nearly half (49%) are looking to reduce flexible and hybrid working roles (49%),” it said, adding that 71% prefer employees to work more frequently from the office as opposed to working from home. Despite this, 82% of business leaders said they believed that hybrid working is here to stay for the longer term.

The research findings come at a time when a new analysis of remote job postings on LinkedIn showed that remote roles are in decline, although the applications to those roles exceed supply by almost twofold in India. In September 2022, 11.3% of paid job postings in India offered a remote working option; however, remote working roles received 20.3% of all job applications.

The company added that research on top executives – or the C-level – showed that a majority (86%) of business leaders in India are concerned that these cost-cutting measures will have a negative impact on employee motivation levels — which may also be why 84% agree they aren’t able to find the right talent today.

Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, LinkedIn said: “The sheer scale of the ongoing uncertainty is forcing many leaders to rethink what — and how much — they can offer to their employees today. While flexibility and learning are usually the first to go when times are tough, pulling back on these in the present situation could demotivate employees, widen the skills gap, and inflate retention rates”.

Mr. Gupta added that at a time when professionals are just as threatened by the age of uncertainty as businesses are, leaders must adopt a forward-thinking approach and continue to invest in their people.