As anyone who has been trying to hire recently knows the labour market in the digital world is a crazy place. For starters we have record vacancies, and wages continue to rise all across the country in our marketplace. We are living through the great resignation/renegotiation with over 50% of Millennials saying they work to live not the other way around.
People are expecting better working practices (as discussed above) but the bottom line is that on its own this is not enough. Yes people want a better work/life balance, greater meaning and personal development at work too but bluntly everyone wants more money too. And it’s difficult to argue with this. Basic economics is enough to know when there is a shortage of supply, prices go up. On top of this we are facing rising inflation and a real squeeze on the cost of living. BUT, we still have to apply basic business practices.
As a founder, owner and managing director I have a legal duty to protect the business. Which means a delicate balance. We had a horrendous 2020 and a fantastic 2021. Business is good but we have to be careful. Really, really careful, the global picture is by no means certain at all and this was before the horrendous invasion of Ukraine.
I believe it’s a combination of many factors that will encourage our team to feel part of the journey and new team members to join. Yes we are fully committed to the changed working practices, investing in our culture and we will pay people what we can. We have also launched an EMI scheme - the first in our 20 year existence - where every team member will get share options. This means everyone gets to benefit in any future sale and should bring us even closer together as a team.
