HR Trends in the Philippines 2023

Living with COVID-19 has changed not only the industry markets but also the way we work. As we move forward in the new normal, we are also seeing improvements in HR tools, people strategies, and the workplace. Hence, to help you prepare for what’s to come, here are the top HR trends businesses in the Philippines should look out for in 2023.

1. Redefined workplace environment

The year 2022 was a transition period for businesses around the world as employees went back to work onsite. In the Philippines, despite a return-to-office (RTO) order, some businesses continued implementing remote work, while others preferred the more flexible work arrangement—hybrid.

The hybrid workplace is a mix of onsite and remote work, giving employees better flexibility and work-life balance. In 2023, we will see a new hybrid work strategy as businesses redefine and redesign the hybrid workplace. This includes setting clear policies about how, where, and when to work, and reinforcing remote-friendly strategies.

Moreover, businesses need to create better strategies for teamwork, performance management and alignment to support their hybrid workforce. However, because the hybrid work model is employee-centric, it is important for business leaders to listen to their employees. Opportunities for dialogues or conversations will also help businesses understand their people’s needs better, strengthen engagement, and offer a sense of belonging.

2. Life experiences and inclusivity

Changes in work arrangements have greatly impacted the employee experience, which is now moving towards life experience. Today’s employees are looking for a reliable and supportive work environment to improve their daily lives, especially in difficult times. Moreover, they prefer non-work-related benefits and perks that promote work-life balance and improving their financial wellbeing,

In addition, employees have become concerned about social sustainability issues, particularly diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB). The workforce is getting very diverse—with different genders, races, and age groups. Therefore, organizations must remove bias from their hiring strategy and training and development initiatives to create an inclusive workspace.

As we move forward with hybrid work, businesses must also consider people sustainability and revisit their purpose. Organizations must create a people-centric workplace culture—promoting fairness, equity, belonging and wellbeing. More importantly, they must be clear about what they stand for and include their employees in meaningful initiatives. Thus, they can create better strategies for attracting, retaining, developing, and employing their people, and achieving positive work outcomes.

3. Data-driven decisions

In a July 2022 study called Hustle Culture, researchers found that 52% of Filipino professionals have reported experiencing burnout. The study also found that 52% of Filipino employees tend to work beyond their job requirements. However, despite being burnt out and overworked, 78% of Filipino employees rated their mental health as “excellent,” “very good” or “good.”

As we move forward with hybrid work, business leaders must also learn to overcome proximity bias. They should trust their invisible employees, who are doing just as much work as their staff working onsite. Moreover, businesses must rely on people analytics to prevent burnout, create an effective workforce planning, and prepare for the future of work.

Using big data can help businesses redesign their performance metrics and evaluation to make data-driven decisions as to pay increase and promotion. Analyzing the future of work will also help in identifying skills gaps and responding to future staffing needs. With the right tools, people analytics can turn into talent intelligence, enabling businesses to spot trends and generate insights for better decision making.

4. Flexible Development Opportunities

In 2025, around 75% of the global workforce will be composed of millennials, while 27% will be Gen Z. Both generations value career development and learning opportunities when considering jobs. Hence, businesses are challenged to implement more initiatives for reskilling and upskilling to make a positive impact.

In a 2020 study by the World Economic Forum, they found that an estimated 133 million new jobs in major economies will be created in 2022. They also found that, due to the recent advancements in technology, around 1 billion people must be reskilled by 2030.

Businesses must move to reskill and upskill their people to help them stay competitive in the changing job market landscape. Moreover, they must ensure to offer flexible learning and development opportunities. Thus, giving their people the freedom to learn new skills on-demand or when it’s convenient for them.

5. Technology-driven HR

The pandemic has exponentially changed technology and the way we use and interact with it. In fact, a 2020 study by McKinsey & Company found companies have accelerated their digital transformation initiatives by three to four years.

In 2023, we will see a new generation of HR and mobile technology, especially with tools using AI and machine learning. Moreover, businesses will be deploying better tools for shift scheduling, and productivity and performance tracking to support remote and gig employees.

Businesses will also be deploying advanced technologies to increase mobile productivity, flexibility, agility, collaboration, and communication. This includes adopting tools to keep employees updated on internal information, like:

company news
benefits
health and safety protocol changes
shift schedules
learning and development opportunities
wellbeing programs

We will also be seeing the increased adoption of the metaverse workplace, where employees can have digital workstations. The metaverse is a virtual reality environment that enables users to customize immersive spaces for interaction, learning, virtual events, etc.

Moreover, the metaverse enables businesses to offer an experiential and spatial way to experience their work culture and products or services. Thus, they can create more meaningful experiences and engagement for both their employees and customers.

Navigate HR Trends in the Philippines this 2023

The HR Trends in the Philippines this 2023 show us that the role of HR professionals will continue to evolve. Now that hybrid work is part of the modern work culture, the HR must also transform into a resilient, agile, and future-ready team. In addition, business leaders will look to their HR for guidance as to improving employee experience and addressing concerns.

More importantly, the HR will move to a systemic people solutions model to resolve recruitment, retention, reskilling, and redesign issues. HR teams will be leading the creation and implementation of talent strategies using analytics and big data. They also need to make sure the set talent strategies are supported with the right HR technologies to ensure productivity. Moreover, they must use data, analytics, and talent intelligence to expand the HR value chain.

Hurey is the most scalable HR and Payroll app in the Philippines. It was designed specifically for the Philippine market, with features to support hybrid workplaces. Hurey can automate most HR functions—from timekeeping to BIR forms generation, and salary and expenses disbursement. More importantly, Hurey has a performance analytics page to give you the insights you need to make informed data-driven decisions this 2023 and beyond.