There is a real family and lifestyle theme to the business people and workplace trends of the future. This comes after two years of social distancing and the governments new strategy of encouraging primary carers back to work to help alleviate the skills shortage.  Here’s what you can expect to see some top employers offering next year.

WFH options. ‘Work from home continues to be a dominant search term by workers looking for a new job. As we start to return to our places of work, if we haven’t already, we need to consider this as an option not for physical health, but mental health and lifestyle balance. Workers like reduced commuting times and more freedom to move further afield.

Leave options for family commitments. Some of the larger employers are starting to offer a variety of leave options such as paid parental leave. This, paired with Prime Minister Albanese’s declared increase in leave from 18 weeks to 24 for new parents from 2024, and other forms of leave such as health and wellbeing leave are appealing to primary carers who are avoiding the workforce because of the cost and the juggle. More employers are also adopting the National Work & Family Standards through certification as a Family Inclusive Workplace to show their support for family wellbeing.

Whole team responsibility for cash flow. Cashflow has never been more important to businesses. Recent research by Xero found more than a quarter of small businesses (28 per cent) were concerned that the cost of new supplies and equipment would be another obstacle to achieving their targets. There are some quick wins to managing cashflow: reduce your terms to seven days, introduce late fees, collect an upfront deposit for high-paying jobs and create an emergency fund. But the most important thing here is that the whole team is aware of the cashflow position so that you can all work toward the same goal for the protection of the business and the jobs.

If you would like to discuss how these trends might apply to your business, contact our experienced team of business accountants on [email protected]