three trends that will shape the world of work in 2024.

Which trends will have the biggest impact on hiring, engagement and retention in 2024? Between ongoing inflation, mass layoffs, new working models and shifting employee preferences, there are a lot of forces at work. But these three trends stand above the rest, making them need-to-know for employers in 2024.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently rolled out empirical evidence proving that the “Great Resignation” objectively happened, but the declining quits rate among American workers indicates the phenomenon is largely over.

That’s good news for employers, of course, but behind the high-level shift in employee behaviors are a host of structural factors, and compelling reasons, why workers today seem more inclined to stay than to go.

The first is widespread hiring freezes and large-scale layoffs, which have garnered significant media coverage and left workers increasingly concerned about job security (for more on that, see our “Technologies” chapter). Beyond that, and even with thousands of skilled workers newly unemployed, the hiring market didn’t fundamentally change but rather remained remarkably tight. By April, in fact, the number of job openings in the U.S. had fallen to a two-year low.