Two significant factors are influencing the nature of employment in the future: the increasing use of AI in the workplace and the growth of the labor force to include both on- and off-balance-sheet talent. What alterations in the nature of work itself, the workforce, and the workplace might be in store?
The workplace is a dynamic environment. Ideas that our parents or grandparents experienced growing up, like working a nine-to-five job and having a permanent employment, are becoming extinct.
It's obvious that technology is mostly responsible for this. But there are other significant social aspects as well, like the aging populations in many wealthy nations and the increased awareness of how working habits affect the environment.
Many of the trends that have recently transformed our working life should continue to evolve by 2024. But as adoption rates pick up speed, the effects of emerging technologies AI in particular will be felt more acutely than before. Everyone will be impacted by this wave of digitalization and change, even people who are not employed in high-tech companies or in professions that need a lot of technology.
This set of trends focuses on changes that will impact our working lives on a day-to-day basis. Look at it as a heads-up for those who want to get ahead. Or for bosses or managers, it can be thought of as pointers for where to focus your efforts to ensure your workforce is ready to face the biggest challenges of 2024.
Generative AI
This is most likely the major one. There's a common belief these days that although AI won't replace jobs, those who can use it will replace those who can't. The capabilities of generative AI tools are rapidly developing to the point where they provide solutions that can boost productivity in almost any task or industry. But keep in mind that mastering AI-augmented labor involves recognizing its limitations and recognizing the situations in which human ingenuity, compassion, and creativity are still required!
Practices Sustainable Jobs
This, in my opinion, is the most crucial area where we need to consciously alter our behavior. Rethinking many elements of our working lives is necessary to understand and lessen the impact of our activities on the environment and planet. This includes where we work and how we build and implement circular processes that encourage recycling and reusing resources while minimizing waste.
Learn Future Skills
As technology continues to change the way businesses and the workplace operate, it is imperative that we all have the skills necessary to use it effectively. These skills include knowing the value of data-driven decision-making, being aware of cyber threats, building emotional intelligence and empathy to make up for technology's lack of it, and adopting the mentality change required to work or lead a global team. It's possible that nobody can influence every one of these changes, but the important thing is to know which ones are pertinent to your job and duties.
Employee Experience
Companies are aware that creating a positive customer experience is essential to creating enduring bonds with clients and bringing in repeat business. In addition, they are beginning to see how crucial it is to guarantee that employees are content overall as opposed to merely receiving fair compensation. This includes a healthy work-life balance, intellectual challenge, intellectual growth, and personal development. If your current employer isn't up to par in 2024, it ought to get easier to locate one that is.
Work Demographics Change
Organizations are becoming more conscious of the benefits that diversity and inclusion provide to any workforce as a result of aging populations, rising rates of foreign migration, workers' talents rising up the corporate ladder, and more. Traditional hierarchies are being upended by all of these changes, and in 2024 and beyond, traditional notions about who our coworkers could be will no longer hold true. There will be less tolerance for anachronisms like the gender pay gap, and advancement will be less hampered by age, race, or even the degree of traditional schooling. There will be plenty of chances for anyone who can adapt to this transition.
Digitization and Data of Work
By 2024, data will have a significant impact on all facets of our professional lives, from the metrics used to evaluate productivity to the knowledge we use to improve our decision-making and introduce more effective procedures. A basic Excel spreadsheet creation skill won't be sufficient for individuals looking to leave their mark in 2024. While pursuing a degree in data science is not necessary to understand how to utilize data to support our daily duties, it does entail being aware of the various tools and platforms that are becoming available and being able to recognize chances to use them.
Continuous Learning
The idea that education is a process we go through in our youth to provide us life skills is outdated given the rate of change in today's world. Companies will demand that workers participate in continuous training to stay current with developing technologies or retrain in them, especially those that involve data and AI. For individuals who wish to take the initiative and make sure they are personally prepared for the future, there will be a wide range of alternatives available, primarily centered upon online learning.
The Decentralized Workplace
In 2024, a greater number of people will opt for hybrid working arrangements, which combine the benefits of face-to-face co-working (such as collaboration and cultural exchange) with the flexibility of remote working. While many of us were forced to work remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic, today we may choose to work remotely because it improves work/life balance, or because it allows us to be more productive without wasting time (and money) on commuting.
The workplace has seen a permanent transformation in the last few years. We've learned from the epidemic that our work practices are far more crucial than our physical locations.
Many businesses now consider hybrid and remote working to be standard practices, which present a plethora of alternatives for the modern workplace.
Jobs, tasks, and abilities are changing as a result of technological breakthroughs like artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and the metaverse. Every industry is feeling the effects of the digital revolution, from e-commerce in the retail sector to telemedicine in the healthcare sector.
Whatever the future holds, the key to success is bringing together the best of the physical, hybrid and virtual environments to unlock the full potential of your workforce.
They are ideas to stimulate discussion and help organizations prepare for every eventuality (even a dystopian future) based on different combinations of technological change, learning evolution, and talent mobility.
1. Employee autarkies
Workforce autarkies are self-sufficient nationalist economies. In this scenario, there is no acceleration of technology, learning, or mobility the status quo is preserved. Employers are compelled by this to relocate highly trained labor to nations with free markets.
2. Widespread motion
Both skilled and unskilled individuals are moving in search of better prospects in this circumstance. While this aids in attracting top people to organizations, it also heightens competition, which may cause social unrest.
3. Robot substitution
More vocations, including those deemed highly skilled, are being replaced by machines as a result of technological improvements. Ironically, the sluggish evolution of learning creates a high demand for new abilities like data development and programming, which in turn creates a demand for technology to replace people.
4. A world that is polarized
The majority of the world's production is done by robots, machines, and algorithms, who continue to execute both manual and non-manual activities through automation. As a result, a sizable portion of the labor force becomes unemployed. Large-scale mobility thus generates globally distributed super-economies.
5. Confident business owners
Because governments and businesses effectively foresee and respond to likely skills shortages, the pace of technological development matches learning. As a result, there is dynamism in the workplace as employees start their own businesses.
6. Expertized movements
Rapid learning produces a highly trained, driven, and adaptable workforce in a variety of places, businesses, and domains.
7. Wealthy communities
A lot of manual and non-manual jobs have been displaced by tech. However, there is a fair balance between automation and employment due to educational reforms, industry investment in skills, and workers' desire for lifelong learning.
8. Quick-change adapters
Even if a lot of professions are becoming automated, there is still a great need for humans to supplement robots because of the emergence of new tasks. A fully dynamic, globalized workforce is the result of high mobility and online working.
How technology intend to change the future of work
Digital technology has played a massive role in getting workers through the pandemic, from video conferencing to cloud computing. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Let's look at the possible impact of further advancements in the digitization of work.
5G Wireless network
The adoption of 5G wireless networks has the potential to completely transform a number of sectors, including manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, and retail. Superfast connectivity and the integration of AR and VR technologies are made possible by 5G.
Processes will be streamlined in smart factories, and automated vehicles will change the way that commodities are transported. In the medical field, doctors who are unable to reach outlying areas will essentially conduct additional tests and diagnosis. It is also envisaged that as 5G becomes more widely available, it would contribute to reducing the salary disparity between high- and low-paid workers.
The Metaverse
Professionals who train with VR and AR headsets include pilots, surgeons, and soldiers. However, teamwork and idea sharing will be easier than ever thanks to the future Metaverse.
You will be able to obtain online training at your convenience and participate in virtual meetings as a 3D avatar. Additionally, you'll be able to transport your ideal desktop configuration with you everywhere you go, so on a bright day, you might bring your desk to the park. As they perform surgery in a different region of the world, trainee surgeons will be able to work with professionals in their specialty. While their teacher in the US goes over the essentials, architects in the UK will use augmented reality glasses to view a 3D model that hovers over their desk.
Automation, AI and robots
There will be an increased reliance on automation as a result of the requirement for increased efficiency without compromising quality. Task automation combined with current procedures will save firms 30% on operating costs by 2024, according to Gartner.
More jobs in hospitals, warehouses, and retail establishments will be completed by robots, who will also take on some of the riskier jobs currently performed by people. AI assistants will be able to understand our work habits and assist us in enhancing our performance, productivity, and calendar management.
Even though increased productivity is a positive thing, it will eventually necessitate redistributing job roles. Concerns about the use of data gathered by new workplace technology are also becoming more prevalent. To increase public trust in technology, lawmakers may need to regulate AI in relation to ethics, liability, and intellectual property rights.
How to prepare for the future of work
Keeping up with the rapid pace of change can feel like hard work, but you risk getting left behind by not adapting to it. Leaders must be proactive in preparing their workforce for the changes and challenges of the next decade. Key areas to think about include:
Worker experience
The pandemic has altered peoples' expectations of their jobs. No matter where they are, workers want to be trusted to complete their tasks. In order to retain your best personnel during a period of drastic change, it is critical to provide a favorable employee experience.
In the US, only 34% of workers report feeling engaged at work, thus most organizations still have a long way to go in this area. First and foremost, it's critical to have managers with compassion who inspire, encourage, and assist their people as needed. Giving staff members the time and room to work on side projects will help to stimulate their creativity and keep their minds active.
Education and training
The skills required to succeed in this new era of work have undergone a profound transformation due to emerging technologies, an aging workforce, and the effects of the pandemic. In addition to computer capabilities, social and emotional intelligence are in high demand. The majority of CEOs believe that training current employees is the best approach to overcome the skills gap, ahead of hiring, contracting out, or redeploying people, according to McKinsey's Global Reskilling Survey.
Companies that prioritize people skills and make investments in reskilling and up-skilling their staff are probably going to reap the biggest rewards.
Discovering aptitude
The chance to develop a varied, inclusive workforce is presented by new working methods. In particular, remote labor may level the playing field for individuals of all backgrounds, regardless of color, age, gender, or disability.
An increasing number of businesses will consciously cultivate diversity within their staff and adopt strategies to mitigate implicit bias. This could entail having "blind" interviews in which interviewers and candidates are not able to see each other, as well as deleting names from resumes.
Space for offices
It takes more than simply adjusting the seating arrangement and adding a new coffee maker to create an office that is ready for the future.
Collaborative areas, video rooms, desk-booking software, and wellness perks like garden space will replace cubicles and rows of workstations. A lot of businesses are shifting to a hybrid model of operations where employees can work from home on occasion and use the offices mostly for team meetings, ideation, and collaboration. According to a survey, 31% of companies have outdoor areas, 69% have on-site coffee shops or baristas, and 58% of firms have already built auditoriums.
Culture at work
Maintaining the status quo won't cut it if you want to keep your staff content and inspired because demands from employees are evolving. The pandemic's ability to make many organizations reevaluate their workplace cultures is one of its benefits.
It takes more than just remote work options and flexible schedules to create a positive culture. Promoting your company's principles, fostering transparency, and giving everyone a sense of inclusion are key. Future workplaces will put more of an emphasis on fostering a feeling of community and providing individualized experiences that enable each employee to participate in discussions and be themselves at work.