Technology companies are racing to provide the well-being of their employees

Attracting employees and talents to work in the technology sector and retaining them has become a very important issue throughout the epidemic and beyond, which has led to more headlines of the “talent war” currently raging in various countries of the world, especially technologically advanced.

There are several pivotal factors at play in this context, there is still a huge skills shortage with very few people with the necessary experience and training that employers are looking for.

The digital skills gap has widened, in particular, during the past two years, given that the Covid-19 virus has changed the daily practices of humans as consumers and companies have become more dependent on technology in their daily lives, and as a result digital skills have become a prerequisite in the vast majority of job listings today, This is not limited to specialized technological jobs only, but also extends to other jobs and in various fields.

The number of employers and companies in the world struggling to find talent for jobs that require technical skills has doubled over the past two years, in the United Kingdom, for example, the number of these increased from 35% in 2019 to 77% in 2021, as technology emerges among the most competitive sectors when It's about the job market, as HR Solutions recently reported .

In addition to a worsening skill shortage, we are witnessing the so-called “Great Resignation,” a term born in the United States, with some 33 million people leaving their jobs in 2021. And this is not just in America, it has spread globally, and it certainly is. One of the most pressing challenges affecting the technology industry at present.

Employee welfare and due recognition

To address all of these problems, companies must have a clear vision of how to support and nurture employees, and they must do so not only out of their responsibility as employers, but also as a strategic exercise to ensure that they can develop and expand their business in the future.

This begins with placing employee wellbeing at the center of any talent acquisition and retention plans, and in fact, employee wellbeing has become an increasingly prominent point of discussion within companies over the past two years due to the stresses and strains imposed by the pandemic.

A study conducted on employees in the United Kingdom last year found that 79% of them suffer from health problems, and stress and anxiety are the biggest problem they face, as 62% reported it, which means a great responsibility on employers to relieve this anxiety.

Google employees are pictured during the opening of the new Alphabet's Google Berlin office in Berlin, Germany, January 22, 2019. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

Many technology companies in the world are wondering about the best ways that can be taken to improve the well-being of employees (Reuters)

Staff welfare is not a gimmick

With the vast majority of employers alerting the fact that employee well-being is now a key component of their growth plans, the focus is naturally shifting to how to excel in this area.

Many technology companies in the world are wondering about the best ways they can be taken to improve the well-being of employees, and there are countless examples of what employers are doing in this field; We have seen some companies offer paid leave for 3 months to their employees, and other companies have begun to provide free travel trips to their employees, and 30 British institutions have announced the experience of working for 4 days a week only, as the writer and researcher “Darren Cable” mentioned in a report published by the platform UKtech a few days ago.

The author asks: What policies, structures, and welfare-focused changes can tech companies make?

First and foremost, tech companies need to realize that “wellbeing” means different things to different people, and as such, no single policy or initiative will significantly improve the wellbeing of all employees, so a more holistic approach is required.

Moreover, the change should be real and substantial and not just a “light touch” or PR exercise, or a way to trick employees into working more for the same salary.

In this context, a former Google employee revealed the "dark side" behind the luxury and luxurious privileges that the company provides to its employees in its lavish offices, as NewsWeek reported in a recent report.

In a video that spread like wildfire on the TikTok platform, as it has gained more than 4.5 million views since its publication on March 3, Ken Wax said that Google - through its well-being programs and privileges that it provides to its employees - aimed to Get employees to “work more for less,” Wax described how a range of benefits are designed to keep employees in the office for as long as possible. Wax explained that a Google employee could eat 3 meals a day for free, but dinner was only available at 6:30 p.m., so the employee had to work late to get it.

The free buses also transport employees to and from work between 6 am and 10 pm, which means starting early and leaving late, and the buses also have a "Wi-Fi" network, so people can continue to work during the trip.

"It was great that employees could bring their dogs into the office, but that meant they never had to leave work to take care of their pets," he added.

Such scams will not work in the long run, and instead companies must think seriously about how to achieve a healthy work-life balance for their employees.

Achieving a healthy work-life balance

Returning to the writer Darren Cable, who asserts that achieving work-life balance is fundamental to the well-being of employees, and in this context, many researchers believed that the emergence of the principle of "remote work" would make this balance possible, as it would provide more time for them to engage in private activities outside Work, however, has made the overlap between work and life more complex, and a recent Monster study found that 69% of employees who work from home experience symptoms of burnout.

The writer points out that often the amount of work required of workers in their homes was much more than what was required of them in offices, so that it consumed the entire time, and for this technology companies will need to establish a clear policy for how to manage remote work, and employees will have to be clearly informed of this, and any The choice they make regarding their expectations of employees, allowing them to maintain a healthy work-life balance is essential, these companies must motivate employees to take breaks from work, and set aside periods of the day to get away from their laptops and go about their private lives.

Financial Empowerment

Employees need greater transparency and control over their finances, and for many this is more important than any other benefit the company can provide.

In fact, financial concerns are a preoccupation for many employees, especially with the increasing burdens of life during and after the pandemic, as a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) revealed that 63% of employees say that their financial stress has increased since the beginning of the epidemic, Mintago's research found that 23% of UK workers feel that financial concerns negatively affect their work; The percentage rises to 36% among those aged between 18 and 34 years, as the writer mentioned in her report.

On this basis, providing adequate financial support to employees will help a lot in relieving anxiety and stress, and technology companies must think about how to do more in this area, whether by increasing salaries or providing appropriate financial incentives.

Emotional intelligence as a leadership skill

For employee well-being to be effectively addressed, there must also be a heavy focus on the (soft) soft skills of managers and leaders in technology companies, and this will be necessary if the company wants to have a culture that supports employees.

Keppel stresses that skills such as empathy and caring are essential skills to support employees, and are lacking by many managers as "emotional intelligence" is an important leadership skill in terms of employee well-being, as well as increasing productivity in the company.

The author cites a recent study - conducted by Catalyst on 889 employees - that revealed some important effects of empathy, as innovation at work increased by 61% among employees whose leaders were more empathetic, compared to only 13% among employees who have fewer leaders. sympathetic.

Thus, companies should provide specialized training programs to develop such skills in their senior employees and managers, or hire managers based on empathy and emotional intelligence, and tech companies would benefit from prioritizing these skills.

In conclusion, the well-being of employees in the coming years will become the most important factor in determining business success, as companies that are more able to attract and retain talent will be able to achieve expansion and prosperity for their businesses.