The world was just coming out of the impact of the pandemic, which was a black swan event, the current geopolitical changes according to me are going to have a material impact on Employment & Employee Relations like never before. Never before macro-level changes have had an impact at such a granular level. Some of the outcomes are quite contrary to what they were expected out of actions of politico-economic decisions taken by dominant economic blocks of the world. While the actions could have been predictable the outcomes were quite surprising. For eg the Russian economy was performing at its best till recently despite sanctions and that too when they were out of the world’s financial ecosystem. While one was ready to accept it, one doesn’t know what will be next after actions pronounced after January 20.
Globalization seems to be taking a back seat and nearshoring and friend shoring seem to be becoming the new jargon. It defies the accepted principles of globalization and all that speaks about the world is one village. Neither is the world one village economically or socially. The sharp divisions based on I want to be a winner at any cost”, seem to be dominating the future of the world. The winning formula seems to be that o-existence is a utopia.
Independent of statutes of various countries protecting employment, it was a silent acceptance that in a competitive world, the consumers will be deciding the sustainability of an enterprise. The moment customer/consumer changes their preferences cancellation of an industry or enterprise is a given. While the world was trying to protect employment the stakeholder who had a direct line of sight with employment ie the employee is saying for me Income protection is more important than Employment protection. This change of thinking goes to the roots of aspiration. It’s tragic that it comes out of my need for existence rather than a voluntary change of socio-economic behavior.
The shortage of skill which was always a topic of discussion at a country level is now an agenda that the world is facing. While globalization is taking a back seat, visa restrictions, and migration of skills at the global level seem to be an acceptable discussion. It may soon move from awareness to manifested action.
When WTO was discussing the “Dunkel Draft”, India was pressing for free movement in the Labour Market at the global level. The argument was, if products and services can transcend boundaries why not human resources? It was ridiculed at that time as parochial, reasons apart it seems to be coming true where labor mobility may cross international demarcations.
What seemed to be a progressive labor practice of flexibility of work from anywhere (tiding of the pandemic) seems to be an anathema and the world of employment practice is getting torn between anywhere working, to hybrid working, to only home working, only office working. The silent resignation is being conveniently coined jargon for a demotivated employee. The unarticulated acceptance is let us accept it also as something which is a natural outcome and doesn’t ask what makes an employee go into that phase of dragging their feet. Here Capital seems to be telling Labour I am the boss. How different it is from just yesterday’s philosophy of “working together to succeed”. Words like collaboration seem to have gone out the window and command and control seem to be coming back. Employees are saying I have not made a choice; I have accepted an offering which was told to me as your only choice.
Gig and Platform workers are confused because so much is being talked about their protection but conveniently words like service on demand, pay for service, and alternative source of income are an acceptable phenomenon. While Trade Unions were meant to create organized labor, for them unorganized labor also known as informal employment seems to be an acceptable way of life. The Automobile worker’s strike in the US was an example of how strongly perceived or real feeling was of Capital overriding Labour. I presume here that Union Leaders were telling a true story of wage disparity.
The real or imagined fear of loss of employment due to artificial intelligence and robotics is adding stress to the aspiring beneficiaries of employment ie human beings. Phrases like Banking are required but banks are not, have multiple socio-economic dimensions that are dictated by technological innovations. One wonders, if the sheer speed and scale of changes will allow us to hold a good and accepted outcome that technological development only leads to change in employment opportunities and not reduce employment.
The world seems to be creating polarization of different aspects that transcend beyond color, race, etc. (not that polarization of any form is acceptable). After witnessing these events one wonders where is employment in all this and it’s is not as if the population of the world is dwindling, it’s growing and the added vulnerability of Food Security, but rather insecurity seems to be getting hidden. Environment care seems to be getting pushed back by propagating how climate change is imaginary and how fossil fuels are meant to be exploited for immediate benefit The future of Work is important but the Future of existence need not be discussed. The per capita metric of environmental biological damage is not important while we discuss the damage caused by unethical consumption & wastage at a gross level.
Asymmetrical wars, asymmetrical behaviors, and asymmetrical incomes are being accepted but its consequences are not being cared for.
Coming back to employment is it not strange that yesterday Heads of HR were writing policies on Work from Home and today they are being compelled to write policies on Work from Office. DEI was considered as something which is so desirable. But now I feel I am being told what you were doing was only virtue signaling.
I think however, this will also change. The two most important competencies in Leadership according to me are going to be Magnanimity and Collaboration, they will be highly valued because they are being made scarce. But, for co-existence, they are most required. We will come a full circle.
Author: Sharad Gangal
About the Author
Sharad Gangal has amassed over three decades of experience in human resources, industrial relations, administration, and talent strategy. Currently a freelance consultant, he previously served as Executive Vice President – HR, Admin, IR, and a Member of the Executive Council at Thermax India Ltd. (2010–2020), where he played a key role in aligning talent and business strategy. Prior to that, he was General Manager – HR, Training & Admin at HDFC Life, contributing to HR process development and employee engagement. He also held leadership positions at Cadbury Schweppes, Boehringer Mannheim, and Asian Paints, specializing in organizational effectiveness, employee relations, and capability-building. With expertise in strategic employee relations, learning & development, and compensation strategy, Sharad has been instrumental in driving HR transformation across industries. His insights and experience continue to shape HR best practices through his consultancy work.
