Career trends to watch in 2023
2 February 2023 at 2:38 pm
What are the five emerging trends in the employment market for the year?
We all wish we had a crystal ball at times. While we can’t help you with the next lotto numbers, we can give you a bit of an insight into career trends this year that may help as you prepare for your own what’s-next.
According to CPA Australia, there are five emerging trends that will shape employment in 2023.
“The accounting profession is a global network of hundreds of thousands of business advisors. This gives us an extraordinarily insight into the labour market,” said CPA Australia general manager media and content Dr Jane Rennie.
“Based on our observations, there are some strong career trends emerging. Employers and professions who get ahead of this curve will have a strong advantage in 2023.
“Now is the time for employees to reflect on their career and ensure they’re prepared for the changing professional landscape.”
Are CFOs the next CEOs?
According to CPA Australia, there will be more CFOs moving into a CEO role this year.
“The pathway to CEO is evolving. Accounting and finance professionals are valued for their technical expertise and problem-solving skills. These skills have been in high demand during the pandemic and other global crises,” Dr Rennie said.
The organisation reports that adaptability, strategic skills and communication skills will also help CFOs rise to the top.
Hyper-flexible is the new hybrid
Employees are looking for more these days, Dr Rennie said. While the pandemic proved the ability of many workplaces to offer working from home, and although hybrid remains the norm in some industries, CPA Australia envisages hyper-flexible working will take hold, especially for those looking to move overseas.
For employees moving overseas, hyper-flexible working also offers a solution for employers in a tight talent market.
“Allowing employees to work from home will no longer be enough to attract candidates in a tight jobs market. Employers looking to differentiate themselves will start offering hyper-flexible workplaces. This will include international remote working and more employers may begin offering a four-day working week at full pay,” Dr Rennie said.
The career lattice
No longer will employees climb a career ladder. Now, according to CPA Australia, employees will scale their way across a career lattice, taking in things like unplanned career disruptions and even steps sideways into roles that may look unrelated, but that ultimately offer a host of new skills that level-up your versatility.
“Stepping sideways, changing industries and taking secondments into unexpected roles will become the norm. Non-traditional career paths build inter-disciplinary skills, which more employees will seek out and candidates can use as a selling point,” Dr Rennie said.
Goldilocks employers
CPA Australia expects so-called Goldilocks employers to become employers of choice this year.
A Goldilocks employer is one that’s ‘just right’, offering something in the middle. In the case of employers, CPA says a Goldilocks employer is not too big and not too small. Of course, it all depends on what you’re looking for in your career, but a Goldilocks employer may be what you need.
“Traditionally, many employees aspired to make a name for themselves at large, globally recognised. Others targeted small workplaces where they can have an outsized influence on business operations. But middle-tier, or Goldilocks employers, are becoming more popular because they offer the best of both worlds. We expect Goldilocks employers to become employers of choice in 2023,” Dr Rennie explained.
Paying it forward
To say it’s been a big few years feels like something of a euphemism: fire, plague, floods, and now a financial crisis. It’s exhausting. But if all of that has you feeling like you should give back to the world, you’re not alone.
Many people reassessed their priorities and place in life over COVID lockdowns and found they want their work to feel meaningful, or to connect with their values. This trend is continuing.
“We’re only three years in and already the 2020s have been filled with emotional, financial and political upheaval. To compensate for this disruption, many employees now want their work to have meaning beyond earning a buck. We expect more people to specifically seek out work that allows them to pay their skills forward,” Dr Rennie said.
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