Over the past few years, the work lifestyle has been a topic of debate as employees start to prioritise their personal life and operate with hybrid schedules.

In 2022, workplace trends such as ‘The Great Resignation’ and ‘Quiet Quitting’ were popular terms that shaped 2023.

“In the past few years, the way we work has changed dramatically due to the pandemic, ongoing skills shortages and more widespread acceptance of remote and flexible working styles, which is why we are seeing new trends evolve,” says Shannon Karaka, Australia and New Zealand Country Leader of Deel.

However, in 2023, we can expect a change in work trends that focus purely on the employee and their flexibility for the best of the workplace.

“A greater degree of flexibility is now ‘baked in’ to workplace culture and practice which can only benefit organisations by increasing the pool of talent available and improving diversity,” adds Karaka.

He says that with a rise of a younger generation becoming professionals, many have spent their careers working remotely, making ‘Gen Flex’ a trend that is set to shape 2023.

Other trends Karaka says that are expected to shape 2023 include the ‘Flexetariat’, teams who put a premium on flexibility and freedom in exchange for traditional perks.

The ‘Save-from-home’ trend is something Karaka says has already started in 2022, with workers saving money with reduced travel, food expenses and increased salaries as the cost-of-living rises.

Following the pandemic, the workforce has seen a wide variety of people moving from one career to another as they try to see what job fits them best, and Karaka believes this will also continue into the new year.  

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With New Zealand facing a record high number of Kiwis leaving the country to begin their overseas experience, or also known as ‘The Great Resignation’, one trend that has shaped employers is ‘Talent Snatching’.

As a result of the bidding war for talent, many employees are finding themselves working at one company before moving to another based on employers giving more appealing offers.

But Karaka says that though ‘Talent Snatching’ is a trend that 2022 has seen as a result of ‘The Great Resignation’, companies will need to look internally to keep their employees.

“Global shortages of talent will continue, and hiring will continue to be ultra-competitive,” he says.

“Businesses who widen their search for prospective employees outside of their home country will find that they’re outpacing competitors, who continue to be hobbled by vacancies and lower productivity.”

Many companies have started to offer the ‘Workcation’, giving employees the opportunity to work anywhere in world, with companies like AirBnB jumping on the trend.

He says that providing opportunities to work remotely is how workplaces should change in 2023.

Creating a role, ‘Chief Remote Officer (CRO)’ will be a popular move many workforces will be taking in 2023.

The role will be supporting their employees in the transition while “we all get used to a new work environment”.

Karaka says 2023 is the year to ditch traditional ways of hiring and working, encouraging employees to look beyond global locations for talent.

“Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not, but what if it could be? Perhaps it is time to disrupt the traditional ways of hiring and look globally for talent,” he adds.

Workplaces should also be looking at making holidays more flexible, ‘Flex Holidays’, to adapt towards a global workforce.

“Not everyone celebrates Christmas, Matariki, Eid or Easter and workers are being given greater choice to decide what holidays they take off instead of a ‘one size fits all’ calendar,” says Karaka.

Within the workplace, Karaka says that with the increase of younger professionals heading into the workforce, many offices will become more casual.

But where will they be the most casual?

‘Casual E-signatures’.

Gen Z are ditching the passive aggressive and traditional signatures such as ‘regards’ and ‘cheers’ and will become more authentic and casual.

In 2022, there has been an influx of language like ‘Lukewarm regards’ and ‘another day, another slay’ being used to sign off emails.

With the increase of employers supporting flexibility and casual workplace environments, Karaka says that many employers should still be aware of bad habits within employees, such as ‘overemployed’.

Having already been seen in 2022, ‘overemployed’ is a trend for employees to work two or more full time jobs remotely and not disclose this to their employees.

“While this individual might be completing all of their work and participating in each role to the best of their ability, it could be against the terms of their contract,” says Karaka.

With all of these trends believed to shape the workforce in 2023, one of the main takeaways from these predictions is that many employees are putting themselves first over their work.

Giving employees the opportunity to choose and be flexible is the key to 2023 as workplaces continue to evolve and keep up with the times.