5/6/23, 11:46 PM 9 Future of Work Trends For 2023

Insights (/en/insights) / Human Resources (/en/insights/Human%20Resources) / Article

9 Future of Work Trends For 2023

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December 22, 2022
Contributor: Emily Rose McRae and Peter Aykens

How you respond to them could determine whether you’re an employer

of choice.

As we enter the third year since COVID-19 came into existence, the virus has proven to
have a lasting impact on the future of work (/en/insights/future-of-work). In 2023,
organizations face historic challenges (/en/articles/what-will-hr-focus-on-in-2023): a
competitive talent landscape, an exhausted workforce, and pressure to control costs. In
this environment, it’s imperative to tackle the following nine trends as your organization
sets strategic workforce and talent goals (/en/human-resources/topics/what-is-hr-
strategy).

Download Toolkit: Get Ahead of the 2023 Future of Work Trends (/en/human-
resources/trends/hr-toolkit-future-of-work-trends-in-2023)

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9 Future of Work Trends for 2023

Table 1. Gartner’s 9 Future of Work Trends for 2023

Trend Trend Name

Number

1. “Quiet hiring” offers new ways to snag in-demand talent

2. Hybrid flexibility reaches the front lines

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3. Squeezed by competing leader and employee expectations,

managers need support

4. Pursuit of nontraditional candidates expands talent pipelines

5. Healing pandemic trauma opens path to sustainable

performance

6. Organizations push DEI forward amid growing pushback

7. Getting personal with employee support creates new data risks

8. Algorithmic bias concerns lead to more transparency in

recruiting tech

9. Gen Z skills gaps reveal workforce-wide erosion of social skills

Trend No. 1: “Quiet hiring” offers new ways to snag in-demand

talent

Anyone on LinkedIn remembers the viral wave of “quiet quitting” headlines from the
second half of 2022: the idea of employees refusing to go “above and beyond” and doing
the minimum required in their jobs. When employees “quiet quit,” organizations keep
people but lose skills and capabilities. In 2023, savvy HR leaders will turn this practice on
its head with “quiet hiring” in order to acquire new skills and capabilities without adding
new full-time employees. This will manifest in a few key ways:

A focus on internal talent mobility to ensure employees address the priorities that
matter most without changes in headcount

Stretch and upskilling opportunities for existing employees while meeting evolving
organizational needs

Alternate approaches, such as leveraging alumni networks and gig workers, to flexibly
bring in talent only as needed
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Download eBook: Set Your HR Priorities for 2023 (/en/human-

resources/trends/leadership-vision-chief-hr-officer)

Trend No. 2: Hybrid flexibility reaches the front lines

As we enter a more permanent era of hybrid work for desk-based employees, it’s time to
find equitable flexibility for frontline workers (/en/podcasts/thinkcast/what-does-a-
human-employee-value-proposition-look-like-for-frontline-workers), like those in
manufacturing and healthcare. According to the 2022 Gartner Frontline Worker
Experience Reinvented Survey, 58% of organizations that employ frontline workers have
invested in improving their employee experience (/en/articles/the-4-elements-of-a-fair-
employee-experience-and-how-to-provide-one) in the past year. About a third of those
who haven’t intend to do so in the next 12 months.

As organizations look to offer more flexibility for their frontline workforce, note that a
recent Gartner survey shows the top role attractors for this segment include:

Control over work schedule

Paid leave

Stability in work schedule

Frontline workers also express interest in other types of flexibility, such as what they work
on, who they work with and the amount they work.

Trend No. 3: Squeezed by competing leader and employee

expectations, managers need support

The demands of today’s working environment have left managers completely out of their
depth. They feel pressure from above and below: they must implement corporate
strategy with regard to hybrid work while also providing a sense of purpose, flexibility
and career opportunities (/en/articles/how-the-best-managers-improve-employee-
performance-and-health). 

Low- and midlevel managers are now the colleagues with whom their direct reports most
regularly interact, and 60% of hybrid employees say their direct manager is their most
direct connection to company culture. 

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Management is a skill, and for most people, it takes practice. The dual pressures of
remote work and employees’ evolving needs and expectations have amplified poor
management. In 2023, the best organizations will take two key actions to relieve pressure
on managers. They will:

1. Provide fresh support and training to mitigate the widening managerial skills gap. The
approaches that were successful in 2019 are ill-suited for the workforce of 2023. 

2. Clarify manager priorities, make it clear how managers should allocate their time and
redesign their roles where necessary.

Download Now: Use This Toolkit to Drive Talent Outcomes in 2023 and Beyond
(/en/human-resources/trends/hr-toolkit-future-of-work-trends-in-2023)

Trend No. 4: Pursuit of nontraditional candidates expands

talent pipelines

For years, organizations have talked about the strategic value of expanding and
diversifying their talent pipelines. Now it’s time to back up those words with actions. Two
key trends have emerged:

1. Employees are charting nonlinear career paths: 56% of candidates report applying for
jobs outside their current area of expertise, and we expect this figure to climb further
in the coming years. 

2. Organizations can no longer meet their talent needs through traditional sourcing
methods and candidate pools. Plus, hiring managers are less concerned with industry
experience and technical skills than they once were.

To fill critical roles in 2023, organizations will need to become more comfortable
assessing candidates solely on their ability to perform in the role, not their credentials
and prior experience. It’s more urgent than ever to rethink outdated assumptions about
qualifications.

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Trend No. 5: Healing pandemic trauma opens path to

sustainable performance

Most humans, and that includes current and incoming employees, are still experiencing
pervasive mental health challenges as a result of the societal, economic and political
turbulence of recent times. This may decrease productivity and performance, as well as
increase angry outbursts, no-notice quitting, workplace conflict and sudden
underperformance. 

Eighty-two percent of employees now say it’s important that their organizations see
them as a whole person (/en/articles/employees-seek-personal-value-and-purpose-at-
work-be-prepared-to-deliver), rather than simply an employee. In the coming year, the
best organizations will implement:

Proactive rest to help employees maintain their emotional resilience and

performance, rather than offering rest as a recovery solution after both have
plummeted. This may include proactive PTO before high-demand working periods, no-
meeting Fridays, allotted wellness time and managers being goaled on their team
taking adequate PTO.

Discussion opportunities to work through challenges and difficult topics without

judgment or consequences. 

Trauma counselors to provide on-site counseling, and train and coach managers on
workplace conflict as well as how to have difficult conversations with employees.

Trend No. 6: Organizations push DEI forward amid growing

pushback

As organizations bolster diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI (/en/human-

resources/insights/diversity-equity-inclusion)) efforts, some employees are showing
signs of resistance. Forty-two percent of employees believe their organization’s DEI
efforts are divisive. And two out of five agree that a growing number of employees feel
alienated by or even resent their organization’s DEI efforts. 

Political and ideological trends that characterize DEI as social engineering or

discrimination against historically favored groups amplify this resistance. Employee
pushback invalidates, disrupts or disconnects from programs meant to enable
marginalized groups. It can be obvious or subtle, and it can be deliberate, but is often
unintentional.

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While many organizations ignore employee pushback because they fear validating it as
legitimate, left unchecked, it may decrease engagement and inclusion
(/en/podcasts/thinkcast/your-guide-to-inclusive-leadership), and ultimately result in
attrition. In 2023, savvy leaders will address the opposition early, before it evolves into
more disruptive forms of resistance.
Trend No. 7: Getting personal with employee support creates
new data risks

Organizations are using emerging technologies (/en/podcasts/thinkcast/get-ready-for-

these-technology-trends-in-2023) (AI assistants, wearables, etc.) to collect data on
employees’ health, family situations, living conditions, mental health and even sleep
patterns in order to respond more effectively to their needs. 

This creates a looming privacy crisis. Technological capabilities are expanding more
quickly than leaders can fully understand and control. Being a human organization means
knowing more about people, not just employees — a shift that has the potential to violate
boundaries around deeply personal and private information. 

In 2023, employers must prioritize transparency around how they collect, use and store
employee data (/en/podcasts/thinkcast/your-guide-to-inclusive-leadership), as well as
allow employees to opt out of practices they find objectionable. 

Start building an employee data bill of rights to support your employees’ need for healthy
boundaries in addition to overall well-being.

Trend No. 8: Algorithmic bias concerns lead to more

transparency in recruiting tech

Organizations that use AI (/en/topics/artificial-intelligence) and machine learning in

their hiring processes — as well as the vendors they rely on for these services — will face
pressure to get out ahead of new government regulations on privacy. They must be more
transparent about how they are using AI, publicize their data audit, and give employees
and candidates the choice to opt out from AI-led processes.

As more organizations begin using AI in recruiting, the ethical implications

(/en/articles/what-it-takes-to-make-ai-safe-and-effective) of these practices for fairness,
diversity, inclusion and data privacy become increasingly salient.

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Trend No. 9: Gen Z skills gaps reveal workforce-wide erosion of

social skills

The social isolation brought about by the pandemic has hit young people hard: 46% of
Gen Z employees we recently surveyed say that the pandemic made pursuing their
educational or career goals more difficult, and 51% say that their education has not
prepared them to enter the workforce. Gen Z has missed out on developing soft skills,
such as negotiating, networking, speaking confidently in front of crowds, and developing
the social stamina and attentiveness required to work long hours, in an in-person
environment.

This lack of experience and preparedness may negatively impact organizations,

especially as they aim to hire cheap talent in a tight labor market. But it’s not just Gen Z —
everyone’s social skills have eroded since 2020. Burnout, exhaustion and career
insecurity — all heightened during the pandemic — negatively impact performance.
Organizations will need to redefine professionalism for their entire workforce to address
this challenge.

In short:

Organizations face historic challenges with a competitive talent landscape, an

exhausted workforce, and pressure to control costs.

In 2023, executives must get savvy to snag in-demand talent, focus on employee
mental health and confront data ethics in new HR technology.

These nine high-impact trends create an exciting opportunity for organizations to

differentiate themselves as employers of choice.

Emily Rose McRae (/en/experts/emilyrose-mcrae) leads the Future of Work and Talent
Analytics research teams in Gartner's HR Practice. While Ms. McRae works across all issues
that can lead to the future of work, her core areas of focus include emerging technologies
and their impact on work and the workforce, new employment models, market and
demographic shifts, and workforce planning to anticipate and prepare for these changes.

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Gartner ReimagineHR Conference

Join your peer CHROs and senior HR executives from leading
organizations to discuss specific HR challenges and learn top
HR trends and priorities.

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Recommended Gartner client* reading:

How to Effectively Leverage Managers’ Impact on Cultural Connectedness

(https://www.gartner.com/document/4021225)
Overcoming Hiring Manager Resistance to Nontraditional Candidates
(https://www.gartner.com/document/4009416)
Navigating Pushback to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Efforts
(https://www.gartner.com/document/4012684)
Practical Privacy — Managing HR Data
(https://www.gartner.com/document/3995881)
Developing Skills for the Hybrid World
(https://www.gartner.com/document/4021110)

*Note that some documents may not be available to all Gartner clients.
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