Six months into pandemic-induced telework, employees' priorities are changing. Company culture seems to matter as much — if not more — to workers as getting promoted, says Amy Lavoie, who leads people science at Glint, a human resources platform owned by LinkedIn.
Why it matters: That's a seismic shift in the way Americans think about work — and it underscores the need for CEOs to pay close attention to culture during the pandemic and beyond.
What's happening: 37% of U.S. workers feel less connected to their teammates than they did before the pandemic — and 31% feel less connected to their managers — according to an ongoing survey of employee sentiment, conducted by Glint and provided to Axios.
- Nearly 1 in 5 workers say their firms aren't doing enough to make employees feel connected to one another.
- And those who say their companies aren't doing enough are twice as likely to say they feel burned out.
Fostering a good work culture is especially important at firms that have undergone rounds of layoffs, per the report.
- 56% of employees said they felt less happy after seeing colleagues get furloughed or laid off, and 47% said those events detracted from their sense of belonging at work.
The bottom line: As the pandemic drags on, companies should be watching out for high rates of burnout, Lavoie says. "The pandemic could result in large populations of disengaged employees."
