40+ Stats For Companies to Keep In Mind for 2021

Introduction

According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the unemployment rate is hovering around 6.1% in 2021, so far. The unemployment rate has yet to fully recover from the mass unemployment during the Covid-19 pandemic, where unemployment reached an unprecedented 14.8%. Now that the job market has recovered in many industries, workers are beginning to once again have ample employment opportunities, and employers need to work hard to attract top talent.

Remote working, diverse and inclusive workplaces, and company branding, and reskilling are at the forefront. To entice prospective employees, it’s key for employers to ensure they implement concrete D&I policies, allow for flexible working arrangements, and have strong company branding.

In this report, you’ll find resources and statistics that will help you tailor an approach that will catch the eye of (and help you keep) top talent this year. So, here’s to your best hiring year yet!

Covid 19’s Impact on Remote Working and What Candidates Are Looking For

The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic completely changed the way most people view work, and going into a physical workplace. While employees were forced to work from home, now over half of workers still want the option to telecommute, for many reasons. Some people say they’ve been more productive working from home, while others enjoy the flexibility of being able to balance their life priorities.

Easing people back into the office will remain a big theme in 2021. Employees have certain expectations from companies now to ensure in-person working is safe, well-planned, and optional.

1 | 56.8% of teams are still working remotely at least part time, and 26.7% of workers overall will continue working remotely in 2021.

2 | The benefits of working from home: 68% of hiring managers say remote work is working better than when they first started working remotely in early 2020 (only 5% said it is worse than before). Of the respondents who said remote working is better than before, reasons included reduced non-essential meetings (70%), and increased schedule flexibility (60%).

3 | The challenges of working from home: 20% cited they lack interactions and often feel isolated when working from home, and 16% don’t have a home office or dedicated space, so they feel distracted.

4 | 86% of employees say they would prefer to continue working from home, at least part time, after offices reopen

5 | 72% of people are keen to return to the office. Men (79%) are more likely than women (61%) to say they are eager to return to their company’s office. The top factors for wanting to return to the office include socializing with coworkers (52%) and in-person work collaboration (46%).

6 | Nearly half (45%) expect to return to working in their company’s office in some capacity in Summer 2020.

7 | 83% trust their company’s senior leaders to make an informed decision about when to re-open their office.

8 | Safety measures are top of mind for most employees: 79% expect their employer to provide disinfectant/hand sanitizer, 54% expect their employer to mandate employees to wear masks/gloves in the office, 45% expect their employer to space out workstations at least six feet from other co-workers, and 38% expect their employer to check employees’ temperatures upon arriving at work.

9 | 70% agree that employees should be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine in order to return to the office, and 23% would consider quitting their job if they were required to return to the office before all employees have been vaccinated.

10 | 17% would consider quitting their job if they were required to return to the office 5 days per week (regardless of vaccinations).

11 | After the pandemic, 34% of respondents in one study believe that they will be working from home at least once a week.

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging

2020 made diversity and inclusion a crucial focus, after a wave of protests seen around the world demanded justice and equality for all. This spilled into the workplace, where employers were faced with taking concrete steps to ensure employees feel valued, regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation: “Many companies have been making commitments around D&I in recent months, but now job seekers and employees want to see action and a real change from employers,” said Glassdoor Chief People Officer, Carina Cortez.

12 | Diversity & inclusion is an important factor for the majority of today’s job seekers: 76% of employees and job seekers report a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers. This is especially true for Black, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ job seekers and employees.

13 | Nearly half of Black (47%) and Hispanic (49%) job seekers and employees have quit a job after witnessing or experiencing discrimination at work, significantly higher than white (38%) job seekers and employees.

14 | 71% of employees would be more likely to share experiences and opinions on diversity & inclusion at their company if they could do so anonymously.

15 | Significantly more Black (71%) and Hispanic (72%) employees say their employer should be doing more to increase the diversity of its workforce than white (58%) employees.

16 | About 1 in 3 employees and job seekers (32%) would not apply to a job at a company where there is a lack of diversity among its workforce. This is significantly higher for Black (41%) job seekers and employees when compared to white (30%) job seekers and employees, and among LGBTQ (41%) job seekers and employees when compared to non-LGBTQ (32%) job seekers and employees.

17 | 37% of job seekers would not apply to a job at a company where there are disparities in employee satisfaction ratings among different ethnic/racial groups.

18 | 66% of employees and job seekers trust employees the most when it comes to understanding what diversity & inclusion really looks like at a company, significantly higher than senior leaders (19%), the company’s website (9%), and recruiters (6%).

Meaningful work and Job Satisfaction, Burnout, and Mental Health

After an unprecedented 2020, employees are focused more than ever on their well-being, work-life balance, and finding meaning in their work. Forty five percent of people say they worked more hours during the pandemic, and this merging of home lives and work lives made people rethink what it means to find purpose in their work. It’s more important than ever to communicate and engage with your employees and put their mental health first to make your employees feel appreciated.

19 | 80% of respondents in one Deloitte study ranked well-being as the top-ranked trend, identifying it as important or very important to their organization’s success.

20 | 70% of employees said that their sense of purpose is defined by their work, but only 15% of frontline managers and frontline employees say they are living their purpose at work, compared with 85% of executives and upper management.

21 | It’s key to give frontline employees purposeful projects, and not just executive: frontline workers were “9X less likely to say that they’d had a manager foster opportunities for them to work on purposeful projects”, and “3X less likely than leaders to say that they can see a connection between their daily work and the organization’s purpose”.

22 | Employees are working 3 more hours per day than before the pandemic.

23 | It’s important to check in on your employees and subordinates: 41% of workers feel burnt out from work, and 45% feel emotionally drained.

24 | Good managers have successfully maintained interpersonal connections with their subordinates: 65% of employees say their relationship with their manager has not been harmed at all, and 63% say their managers have adapted and adjusted well to the changes that Covid introduced in the workplace.

25 | Job satisfaction was not impacted by Covid-19: job satisfaction went from its lowest rate of 42.6% in 2010 to 56.9% in 2020. This was, in part, due to companies checking in on their employees more, and compassionate benefits being offered, like flexible hours or healthcare benefits.

26 | A survey at Imperative found that people who engage in peer coaching are 65% more likely to feel fulfilled; 67% more likely to report being a top performer; 73% more likely to report feeling a sense of belonging; and 50% more likely to expect to stay in their job for more than 5 years.

Employer Branding and Recruiting, Hiring, and Retention

It's no secret that a well-defined employer brand is an essential part of building high-performing teams. Employers across industries are turning their focus to their employer brand to understand how they are perceived online and how that perception affects recruiting, hiring, retention, and more.

The most important outcome of having a strong employer brand is that prospective employees will be more inclined to consider your company when applying for jobs. Consider the following statistics and how much work candidates put into understanding your company long before you see their cover letter and resume:

27 | 86% of HR professionals surveyed indicated recruitment is becoming more like marketing.

28 | 86% of employees and job seekers research company reviews and ratings to decide on where to apply for a job.

29 | 75% of active job seekers are likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand.

30 | 86% of women and 67% of men in the United States wouldn't join a company with a bad reputation.

31 | 68% of Millennials, 54% of Gen-Xers, and 48% of Boomers indicated they visit an employer's social media properties specifically to evaluate the employer's brand.

32 | 50% of candidates say they wouldn't work for a company with a bad reputation, even for a pay increase.

33 | 92% of people would consider changing jobs if offered a role with a company with an excellent corporate reputation.

34 | A strong employer brand can reduce the cost per hire by as much as 50%, and a negative reputation can cost a company as much as 10% more per hire.

35 | Almost 30% of job seekers have left a job within the first 90 days of starting (indicating misalignment between the candidate and the employer brand).

36 | 7 out of 10 people surveyed indicated they had changed their opinion about a brand after seeing the company reply to a review.

37 | Employee voice is three times more credible than the CEO's when it comes to talking about working conditions in that company.

38 | Companies actively investing in employer brand can reduce turnover by as much as 28%

Skill Gaps and Talent Shortage in the Labour Market

With rapidly changing technologies and the business landscape, skill gaps are looming, and organizations are seen as the primary entity responsible for ensuring the labour market keeps up. What this means is 73% of respondents in one study say that companies respond to these changes by training and reskilling employees in the future.

39 | Companies listed 33% more skills on job ads in 2020 than they did in 2017.

40 | 87% of respondents in one study say their company is either experiencing skill gaps now, or expect them within a few years, with 44% of respondents saying their organizations will face skill gaps within the next five years, and another 43% report existing skill gaps.

41 | 17% of respondents believe that their company will be able to anticipate the skills their organizations will need in 3 years.

42 | 46% of respondents said their organizations will reskill more than one-fifth of their workforce in the years ahead.

43 | The most common tactic for addressing skill gaps over the past five years has been hiring (said 66% of respondents). Skill building is the second-most common tactic, cited by 56% of respondents.

44 | Data analytics and web development/IT are the business areas with the greatest need to address potential skill gaps.

45 | 46% say their organizations will reskill more than one-fifth of their workforce in the years ahead.

Reasons to Use Glassdoor

You have a lot of options when it comes to where to invest your time and money on attracting new, talented workers. But Glassdoor offers a bevy of benefits — from reviews to employer branding tools — and is a top destination for the best job seekers (literally). These statistics will show you why you should consider using Glassdoor to attract job candidates.

46 | Glassdoor has 67 million unique monthly visitors to its website and mobile applications.¹

47 | More than half of Glassdoor’s visits each month come from a mobile device.²

48 | 83% of Glassdoor users are actively looking for jobs or open to new opportunities.³

49 | Just over half (53%) are men and half (47%) are women.²

50 | 92% are college educated.⁴

51 | 45% of Glassdoor users have more than six years of work experience.⁴

52 | 42% are Millennials (ages 25-34).²

53 | 43% of female candidates are minorities.⁵

Demographics

54 | Glassdoor has nearly 50 million reviews and insights for more than 1 million companies.⁶

55 | Nearly 3 in 4 (74%) of Glassdoor users read at least 4 reviews before forming an opinion of a company.⁷

56 | 75% of active job seekers are likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand (e.g. responds to reviews, updates their profile, shares updates on the culture and work environment).⁷

57 | 89% of Glassdoor users find the employer perspective important on what it’s like to work at the company.⁷

Conclusion

To successfully recruit top talent in 2021, you will need to understand their needs and desires — candidates are looking to have a remote-working option, an inclusive environment, strong company branding, and the potential to get reskilled by their organization. With these statistics, and Glassdoor’s help, you can adapt to the marketplace and become a top destination for the very best job candidates.