The workforce is changing despite people’s pleas for a return to normalcy. This is a good thing, though – as businesses open up more, people attempt to move back to their offices and life resumes, we’ll begin to see changes in the workplace that offer only good for employees. Here are four workplace trends that are emerging this year and show no signs of slowing down.

1. Openness About Salary

Transparency from your employer is going to be a huge thing moving forward in the work world. This ties into a desire to see more equality in the workplace – workers want to know that they’re all being compensated fairly for their work, especially regarding gender and racial wage gaps. As companies strive to show that they treat their employees equally, expect to see more openness about how much employees are being paid and what salary range companies have in mind for new hires. This means you’ll have a fuller picture of what compensation a potential job can offer you, giving you the ability to pick and choose which roles you want to apply for. Once some major companies start to be open about their salaries, others will undoubtedly follow their lead.

2. Hybrid Workplaces

The past two years have proven that plenty of people’s jobs can be done from home – and sometimes, more effectively. Not only this, but employees now see the benefit in remote work: flexibility in work hours, the ability to spend more time with their loved ones, and creating workspaces that are comfortable for them. As there are plenty of people out there who will throw themselves into remote work completely, companies will take note of this and be more likely to offer hybrid workplaces as an advantage to working with them.

3. Four-Day Work Week

The four-day work week was a rarity before the pandemic hit, but as a result of the past two years, people are starting to rethink the role that work plays in their lives. After all, you want to feel genuinely passionate about your work, not drained by it – cutting down the days in the work week might help in ensuring employees remain excited about their jobs. It’s not to say that the four-day work week is going to become the norm across the board, but there’s a big chance we’ll start to see it pop up more and more as a competitive benefit that companies offer to potential employees.

4. Employee Wellness

Employers have long attempted to measure employee satisfaction, but the new important metric they’ll need to look out for is employees’ mental health. Taking care of our mental health is especially crucial at a time like this, and companies are beginning to notice. Expect discussions of mental wellbeing to take center stage in the workplace moving forward, especially as employees begin to realize they don’t have to suffer through toxic workplaces when supportive companies are plentiful. Employers will be taking action to make sure their employees are both healthy and have support if they’re struggling.

In such unpredictable times, the work world needs to adjust to allow employees some form of stability. Flexibility, equality and transparency are becoming big deals overall and will be peppered throughout these workplace changes and continue to evolve. Hopefully, this means that we’re working towards all-around positive, supportive and inclusive work environments.

Are you an employer looking to make changes in your own workplace? List your job on Style Nine to Five!

Emily Morrison is a media professional with passions for writing, film and popular culture.

Feature Image: Adobe Stock