With some countries now loosening their restrictions and as (dare we say it) we begin to start entertaining the thought of life after lockdown, there is one thing that we can be sure of – our working lives and habits will forever change.

One of the areas that will increasingly come under scrutiny is employee pay and benefits. Now that many of us are working remotely – and will probably continue to do so to varying degrees moving forward – it is clear that that companies may need to make adjustments. Remuneration and rewards packages will need to cater for a different landscape.

Let’s examine some of the emerging trends that will shape the future.

Managing finances

There may be a shift towards ‘earned’ rather than ‘in arrears’ wages so that employees can have more immediate access to their money. Also, will companies cover remote working costs such as laptops and monitors? A survey carried out by YouGov in partnership with daily broadsheet USA Today and LinkedIn found that workers were reporting greater productivity levels – if the trend continues post-Corona, they will want to be compensated accordingly.

Recruitment returns

If companies do indeed save costs moving forward – whether through the consolidation of offices and rents or by reducing headcount and salaries – when things get better, they may find themselves in a position to start re-hiring and ramping up their recruitment. The good news for hiring managers is that, especially in some sectors like retail, there is a large pool qualified staff.

Investors in people

However, potential new joiners will still be looking at the benefits on offer, especially if salary increases are hard to come by. If organisations are to compete for the top talent, they must still offer a competitive rewards package. To do that they must have access to reliable and relevant pay benchmarking data to ensure that they don’t lose out on top talent.  

Some answers that candidates will want to know, especially in light of current events:

• Will the company invest in their personal development and training?
• Will they offer more generous leave policies or employee assistance programmes?
• Will they allow their workers to continue to work remotely and flexibly?

Regional differences

As things stand currently, employees enjoy financial benefits depending on where they work. Certain workers enjoy an allowance that reflects the higher cost of living in metropolitan areas. If employees will work more from home, will this impact these regional weightings given that they will be spending less on travel and their daily commute?

Worker pay and remuneration will increasingly come under the spotlight as employers will have to carefully review their current policies and practices to cater for a new working reality. But they must also be careful that they don’t alienate their existing employees and future hires.