Envisioning a More Equitable Future of Work at Indeed’s Recharge Summit

_{During the Recharge event, an artist from ImageThink created ‘graphic recordings’ summarizing in words and images each session’s main conversation points. This illustration was created during the session focused on the future of work.}

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How are human resource (HR) and talent attraction (TA) leaders preparing for the future of work? What do they believe will be the biggest shifts in hiring and retention over the next 10 years? And what strategies do they advocate for navigating those changes — while addressing their most pressing hiring and retention challenges?  

These and other questions sparked lively discussions, fresh ideas and new connections among Indeed executives and 30 HR and TA leaders who attended the recent Indeed Leadership Connect Recharge event. The theme: “Rebuilding for a Better World of Work.” Held Sept. 21-23 at The Lake House on Canandaigua in New York, this invitation-only, in-person event included sessions on the future of work; reducing bias and barriers for today’s workers; tackling hiring and retention challenges; and becoming a more mindful leader. 

(Indeed Leadership Connect is a community of HR and TA professionals at the VP-level and above. The program includes virtual roundtables, in-person events, exclusive content and research, and more. Apply for membership here.)

Here are some key takeaways from the event: 

The global talent shortage isn’t going away

Recharge registrants were asked in a survey, “What do you think will be the biggest change in the workforce in the next 10 years?” The top answer, at 64.7%, was that “global talent shortages will persist and/or become even more severe” — backed by research from Korn Ferry and others.

We dug deeper into this survey result in a roundtable, “Creating a Future of Work That Improves Lives, Not Just Livelihoods.” During the discussion, participants cited multiple factors fueling the current and future labor shortage, including:  

The gig economy. Some workers, especially Gen Z and younger Millennials, are choosing to earn a living through gig employment such as Uber, DoorDash and Etsy over traditional jobs. These younger workers “see the opportunity to make the same amount of money as they might with a job and yet have a higher quality of life” because of the flexibility the gig economy affords them, said Dr. Veronica Hawkins, vice president of human resources for Nixon Medical. “They’ve also seen people get laid off during economic downturns.”

As a consequence, Hawkins is concerned employers’ talent-attraction practices haven’t shifted accordingly.

For example, some still hire younger workers expecting that they’ll remain at the company for years or even a lifetime, as was customary in the past, Hawkins explained. A more realistic strategy is to hire workers “for a season or a year,” enabling them to “be their best selves” while they’re with you. 

Fewer workers coming of age. Erik Kershner, senior director of talent and engagement for WIS International, pointed to studies showing that Millennials aren’t having children at the same rate as previous generations, which is also contributing to the talent shortage. “Their kids should be entering the workforce now — but they aren’t,” he said.

Pandemic disruptions. Reckitt’s Senior Vice President of HR for Global Nutrition Christine Geissler said she believes “the worker shortage has been coming for a while, but COVID-19 stopped many companies from preparing for it.” The U.S. closed its borders during the pandemic, she added, exacerbating the problem: “We’re in a crisis for people now, and we need immigration to survive.”

Reducing bias and barriers can help relieve the talent shortage

To relieve the talent shortage, employers must challenge the status quo of how and whom they hire, lowering traditional barriers to employment, said Indeed’s Senior Director and Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DI&B) Misty Gaither. “Too often, marginalized groups are unable to find work,” she explained. “I hope we can start to ask ourselves questions about why it is this way, and how we might think about hiring differently to change the trajectory of our workforce.” 

This requires a shift in mindset, letting go of the fear of getting things wrong and accepting that you don’t have all the answers, Gaither said. “And that ties into vulnerability, compassion and empathy — the soft skills that matter most right now.” To create lasting, positive change, "we have to say and do the hard things, which may be uncomfortable,” she added. “But the discomfort is what often drives change."

The biases and barriers underrepresented people experience with employment are often unrelated to their ability to do the job, added Indeed’s Vice President of Social Impact Abbey Carlton. “These folks have the skills and experience, and they want to work. But too often they’re overlooked or screened out simply because of who they are or how they identify.” 

Effective employer branding can help attract underrepresented candidates 

One way to reach out to marginalized groups is through effective employer branding, said Tonya Moore, senior VP of HR for Island Hospitality. Some underrepresented people won’t apply for a job if they don’t think they’ll be welcomed. Spotlight underrepresented people in advertising and employer branding and highlight those who can act as mentors or sponsors, Moore said, “so [that] when you post a job, these workers will be excited about it.”  

Joey Lee, head of talent attraction for Virgin Orbit, added that employer branding should emphasize not only diversity, equity and inclusion but pay transparency; job flexibility; and mental health care, while appealing to a multigenerational candidate pool. “Talk about your company culture at the top of your job descriptions, then dive into the details of the job,” he advised. 

Make the most of a crisis — and other takeaways

At Recharge, there were lots of robust conversations on a variety of topics. Some takeaways include:   

“Never let a good crisis go to waste,” said Geissler, quoting Winston Churchill, a reminder that HR and TA leaders should challenge their thinking by looking for ways to turn a crisis into positive change. For example, during the pandemic, her employer Reckitt reviewed many of its policies and benefits, resulting in increasing its parental leave to six months for all employees and ensuring policies of inclusion. 

The time has come for pay transparency. The need to implement pay transparency in job postings is often an uncomfortable discussion for HR leaders, recruiters and hiring managers, said a VP of talent attraction. But those conversations are important, because pay transparency can help ensure underrepresented people are paid equitably. “My hope is that the legislation around pay transparency that’s growing around the country will change the inequity of pay for good,” he added. 

The economy is outpacing worker wellbeing concerns. Senior Executive Advisor for Indeed’s Idea Center Dr. Chela White-Ramsey presented the results from the survey of Recharge attendees. According to the survey, employee wellbeing was among the five biggest challenges HR and TA leaders experienced this time last year, with 32.4% of the vote. The other challenges were recruiting talent (76.5%); retaining talent (64.7%); developing and maintaining a positive employer brand (47.1%); and building and growing a diverse, inclusive workplace (44.1%). 

However, White-Ramsey noted that while wellbeing was understandably more of a concern during the height of the pandemic in 2021 than it is today, it was edged out of the list of top-five challenges respondents expect to face in the next six months by economic worries, such as fears of recession of inflation. 

Change is only going to accelerate. “I’ve never seen the pace of change happen as fast as it is happening today. Hiring is up one day, and the next day, budgets are down, and it’s not going to slow down,” noted Ryan Batty, Indeed’s VP of Global Enterprise Marketing. “As leaders, we have to adapt to this pace.” he added, which reminded him of a Churchill quote: “If you don’t take change by the hand, it will take you by the throat.”

The taboo of mental health in the workplace will continue to fade. “We still have more work to do, but I’m hopeful that we’ll continue making real progress [toward] removing the stigma of talking about mental health in the workplace,” said Indeed’s Carlton. 

Self-care is not selfish. Author Pandit Dasa, who gained fame as the “Urban Monk,” emphasized that “self-care is not selfish” during his keynote on mindful leadership. “We have to lead by example, not just in how we perform in the office but also in our own self-care and wellbeing,” he said. 

Dasa emphasized the importance of leaders getting quality sleep every night and  avoiding working on their devices in bed. “After all,” he joked, “you didn’t buy your bed at Staples.”

Many of us spend time and create unnecessary anxiety by dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, Dasa added. He encourages trying to spend as much time in the present as possible. After all, when a situation is within your control — and especially when it isn’t — why waste time and energy worrying about it? 

Commit to improving the future of work

Recharge participants were asked to think about one commitment, large or small, they’d like to make to help create a better future of work. Participants shared commitments such as “rattling the cage of my company until we have diversity, equity and inclusion embedded everywhere”; “removing names and education from resumes” to help facilitate more equitable hiring; and “shining a light on injustice and leveling the playing field between the underprivileged and the privileged.”

Above all, “never shy away from forcing others to look at things differently,” said Kershner of WIS International. “Even if you’re just playing ‘the devil’s advocate,’ making tough conversations happen at work is how we start to create real change.”