New research reveals the trending employee demands of 2023, and the most popular workplace demands across the globe.
The study, conducted by the job hunting experts at Lensa, analyzed the number of annual searches surrounding workplace demands, to determine which demands are currently trending.
The full research is available to view here : https://lensa.com/insights/lensa-employee-demands-2023/
Globally trending employee demands:
| Rank | Demand | % YoY Increase Annual Searches |
| 1 | Menopause Leave | 336% |
| 2 | Mental Health Support In Workplace | 150% |
| 3 | 4-Day Work Week | 82% |
| 4 | Office Socials | 50% |
| 5 | Faster Hiring Process | 40% |
| 6 | Work Place Boundaries | 39% |
| 7 | Modern Workplace Technology | 24% |
| 7 | Sustainable Workplace Practices | 24% |
| 9 | Pet Friendly Offices | 23% |
| 10 | Ergenomic Office Furniture | 22% |
| 10 | Office Coffee Machine | 22% |
| 10 | Remote Working | 22% |
| 10 | Work-Life Balance | 22% |
Coming in first place, we have menopause leave. Earlier this year, ministers in the UK rejected a proposal for a trial of menopause leave, a decision which came under a lot of criticism from the Women and Equalities Committee. Over the last year, searches for this term have seen a huge increase of 336%.
Currently, there isn’t much support for women in the workplace experiencing menopause symptoms. Companies such as Modibodi in Australia and the Bank of Ireland offer menopause leave, however, it is not widely adopted by any country.
Second in the list is mental health support in the work place. According to the World Health Organisation, the Covid pandemic resulted in a 25% increase in the prevalence of mental illnesses, such as depression. As such, there has been a 150% increase in searches for workplace mental health support in the last year, indicating a great need for support systems to be in place for employees.
Having already ranked in the top five most popular demands globally for employees, four-day work weeks are trending and increasing in searches. Over the last year, 4-day weeks have increased by 82% in search volume, further highlighting the increased interest in greater working flexibility.
The most popular employee demands globally:
| Rank | Demand | Annual Searches |
| 1 | Remote Working | 1,911,000 |
| 2 | Work-Life Balance | 1,890,000 |
| 3 | Corporate Social Responsibility | 1,690,000 |
| 4 | 4-Day Work Week | 815,500 |
| 5 | Hybrid Working | 508,600 |
| 6 | Professional Development | 480,200 |
| 7 | Smart Office | 361,200 |
| 8 | Office Coffee Machine | 148,400 |
| 9 | Job Shares | 108,700 |
| 10 | Flexible Working Hours | 73,200 |
The most popular workplace demand from employees globally is remote working. With just under two million annual searches, it would appear that workers value flexibility in their workplace above other factors.
Carrying on the trend of work flexibility, is work-life balance. This year, employees value a workplace that offers work-life balance, with nearly 1.9 million searches.
Corporate responsibility comes in at third. In the last year, there have been 1.69 million global Google searches for this term, highlighting that employees want employers who align with their values and ethics.
