Farewell, "Employee Engagement"?

There's an interesting theme emerging and gradually taking shape at the moment. As the pandemic in the West recedes, for now, a "skills shortage" is creeping its way up the business headlines. Job vacancies, in general, are increasing at a time when logic would have suggested the disruption caused by the pandemic would have people rushing back, desperate for work. 

I wonder why that is? Have the skills disappeared? (seems unlikely) or has the demand for skills increased (probably - but that much?), or have the various support schemes distorted the market? Whatever the mix is, it seems that a year away from the "old normal" has changed things.

The global "employee engagement" market is apparently worth $75 billion. Even allowing for the difficulty in measuring it accurately, it is still a lot you'd think that for that much money would be enough to span a period of disruption in the market. Are employees really that fickle?

Well maybe. Employee engagement is a strange notion in many ways; …