Written by Ricardo Florencio

We are – and will continue to live – in times that we have not faced for many years. For all the vicissitudes—pandemic, war, among others—the times have seen some growth, job market stability, and some scarcity of resources, which has led companies to go the extra mile to attract the people they want. . Recently, with the tendency to worsen, we are faced with other realities. Inflation, rising interest rates, economic recession, and the burden of taxes are adding to widespread pressures on several fronts. In people’s daily lives, which directly puts pressure on companies to increase income.
But companies are also facing new pressures on their results, given the significant increase in all their costs, and if growth, consumption and inflation in themselves have succeeded so far in balancing the situation, all this could change in the near future.

However, there is still a shortage of more qualified and capable resources, and therefore, the difficulty of recruiting and retaining these people will also continue to increase. Add to all this the well-known and quite specific – and unresolved – problems we face in Portugal, such as low productivity, processes and procedures that are often outdated, among many others. It is certain (we hope) that the development of technology, digitalization and the integration of artificial intelligence will solve or at least overcome some of these problems. But will it be enough?
Yes, the pressure will increase significantly, and we must be able to cope with the situation, but profound changes are needed in many aspects associated with people management. Are we ready, qualified, and have a broad desire to develop and implement it?

An editorial published in Human Resources Magazine, Issue 153, September 2023