Comment: Forget games rooms and pizza days, most employees just want basic wellbeing in 2024 - KilkennyLive

TS Eliot may have reckoned that April is the cruelest month, but it’s unlikely he spent much time in Ireland in mid-January.

The mercury is dropping well into the negative numbers, the evenings are still dark, while the Christmas spending — as well as some hefty utility bills — are all catching up and exerting their toll. There’s also the post-holiday blues that affects people returning to work. Or, maybe you worked through Christmas and are simply preparing to push the stone back up the hill once again.

It’s little wonder they call Monday of this week ‘Blue Monday’, supposedly the most depressing day of the year; we still have over half the month to go and it can all start to feel a bit much. It’s no coincidence that a lot of people start to abandon their New Year’s Resolutions or some of the little good new habits they have been cultivating from the moment the clock struck midnight on January 1.

January, however, like April, can also be a time for new beginnings and perhaps due to the aforementioned reasons, it’s a time when people consider making a change — evaluating options. Studies show it’s the most common time for people to look for a new job. For those looking to make the move in 2024, as always, the jobs market is a constantly changing one, and a number of industry experts have been sharing their thoughts on what the year may have in store.

Recruitment leader Sam Dooley of IrishJobs has revealed his industry predictions for 2024. Interestingly, one of them is that with increased life expectancy, Ireland’s labour force is getting much older and HR professionals in Ireland are placing an increased emphasis on fostering an age-friendly work environment. Employers are also beginning to understand the importance of cohesion within multi-generational teams.

Dooley also forecasts that new developments in AI and automation will have a significant impact on the recruitment landscape over the coming year. Businesses are scrambling to see how AI can give them an edge, save on costs and propel them ahead of the competition. Experts are predicting 2024 is likely to be a pivotal year for the adoption of AI and automation technologies — this could be good or bad news for workers depending on sector.

Dooley also says that employers are increasingly taking a holistic approach to the journey of their people within the organisation, from recruitment and onboarding to professional development – recognising that ‘a healthy workplace contributes to employee well-being’.

Returning to the aforementioned Blue Monday, a new poll from international recruitment firm Robert Walters Ireland published this week found professionals in Ireland are increasingly feeling that their employers are falling short in providing help with workplace wellbeing. It seems people aren’t content just trying to feel content during their hours of rest; they want to feel well while they work!

This doesn’t mean the likes of the beanbag and hammock zones, games rooms, gym memberships, team-building workshops and ‘pizza days’ espoused by the big tech multinationals; it’s likely much more fundamental.

Kilkenny-based entrepreneur Terry Clune, named Irish Business Person of the Year 2023, has led pioneering companies in this regard. Last year, his software technology group CluneTech introduced a range of lofty reforms across key areas, including compassionate leave, miscarriage and pregnancy loss leave, and IVF and pregnancy support leave. This is in addition to an already already extensive benefits package — it’s no wonder the company regularly appears in lists of ‘best places to work’.

There’s no doubt that the nature of what people want and look for in a job is changing, as the demands of the modern world change. The pandemic accelerated this in many ways. For example, the option to work remotely on occasion, and the right to ‘switch off’ after certain hours are now talking points in many modern job interviews.

Hybrid working has shot up the list as a key priority for people in what they want in a job; the exorbitant costs of housing in city centres coupled with growing access to broadband in rural areas has further made this a real possibility for many.

Salary is of course a major factor in determining what makes a good place work, but so are other things like stress, work/life balance, commute time, annual leave, opportunities to progress, open communication, feedback, and a positive, healthy and welcoming working environment.

Irish Olympian Derval O’Rourke recently put together her top tips to help boost staff morale in 2024.  They include encouraging employers to promote to mindfulness, stress reduction and mental health awareness, financial wellbeing support, and career development opportunities. Getting the right work/life balance has been a major factor in worker satisfaction in recent years and that trend, she says, is set to continue.