What is the Future of Work?
The workplace has changed. Pandemic has accelerated the Future of Work Phenomenon. At present, we work in a world in which not only is there more knowledge than ever but it is growing at an incredible speed. Technologies such as mobile telephony, the Cloud, 5G, the Internet of Things, AI, Big Data and Blockchain are becoming a ubiquitous and seamless part of our daily lives and as this happens, the way that we live, play and work is dramatically changing. Just as information technology is becoming more democratic, so too the FoW will be more democratic as changes in technology induce changes in the structure of business operations.
IBM predicts that in the next couple of years, the volume of information will double every 12 hours. Increasingly, the value of high fixed cost entities such as higher education which require the acquisition of massive amounts of debt to attend is on the decline.
What is at a premium is knowing how to learn and having an entrepreneurial mindset to adapt to change. How useful is a two-year master’s degree in a world where knowledge is doubling every 13 months? How much more valuable is it to obtain on the job work experience than a degree that does not guarantee one employment at a time when jobs are precious?
These trends were already gradually underway but the COVID pandemic has dramatically accelerated these long term structural changes to the way that we work by forcing organizations to immediately adopt the latest digital technologies so as to enable as much remote or automated work as possible, In business, you can’t manage what you can’t measure and there is now an unprecedented pool of data concerning the efectiveness of novel work paradigms. The impact of the pandemic on the shift towards the mass deployment of advanced information technologies such as AI and automated systems in the workplace should not be underestimated.
At a time when speed and responsiveness to change are essential, it is evident that centralized organizations are slower and less adaptable to change than more decentralized ones. The more decentralized the organization, the more workers are empowered and motivated by a sense of ownership to contribute based upon what they are experiencing through their work in the field.
Fundamentally, labor performed by humans has a number of intrinsic bottlenecks associated with it: the additional cost of health care and other benefits; the threat of racial or sexual harassment; concerns about whether or not the employee is in tune with a corporate culture; and now the very real consideration that employees can be vectors of disease. Ironically, there is an opportunity for work to become less mundane and more meaningful. Culturally, this emphasis on social and human characteristics is the most revolutionary aspect of the emerging world of work.
All of these concerns are driving corporations to substitute capital for labor so as to eliminate those costs and risks. This painful aspect is now a part of the strategic considerations of CEOs, CTOs, and CHROs.
These changes to the world of work are likely to result in profound social disruptions. Undoubtedly, people will need to be trained for the new jobs that will come into existence with the deployment of these new technologies; and they will need help in finding those jobs.
The FoW is that it is in the process of becoming more human and more humane as no machine or algorithm can truly replace the social interactions, empathy and emotional intelligence that only human beings possess.
In this Guide, we will discuss more on how you can start preparing for the future of work navigate through various industry dynamics in this space.
Future of Work: Trends & Opportunities
Find out the latest market trends of Future of Work
This is covers some of the core trends and opportunities in the future of work. It tries to summarize some of the important insights which were discussed in the Future of Work Pioneers Podcast.
Future of Work: The Biggest Challenges
Most pressing challenges in the workplace of the future
This tackles some of the biggest challenges in the future of work. It tries to summarize some of the important insights which were discussed in the FoW Pioneers Podcast.
Future of Work: Industry Perspectives
Learn about Key Industry Perspectives
This focuses on key insights from various industries that are impacted by the future of work. It tries to summarize some of the important learnings which were discussed in the FoW Pioneers Podcast.
Future of Work: Culture & Diversity
Adaptation of new culture and diversity in the workplace
This talks about the key principles of culture and diversity for the future of work. It tries to summarize some of the important insights which were discussed in the FoW Pioneers Podcast.
Future of Work: AI & Automation
The impact of Ai & Automation on Future of Work
This details some of the impacts of AI and Automation on the future of work. It tries to summarize some of the important insights which were discussed in the FoW Pioneers Podcast.
Future of Work: Insights from Fortune500s
Find out the key insights from the Fortune 500 organizations
This Future of Work guide is designed to describe some of the key insights from Fortune500’s in the FoW. It tries to summarize some of the important insights which were discussed in the FoW Pioneers Podcast.
How to navigate this Ultimate Guide?
If you’re serious about learning more about all the facets, we recommend you start watching the Future of Work Pioneers Episodes which are mentioned on the top of each section page while reading through the relevant summarized insights which can be found in each section. Go through the sections at your own pace and be sure to allow yourself to digest these insights from corporate leaders.
Getting excited yet? You should be! This is is going to be of great importance for all of us.
Want to bring the entire eBook with you? Download it here.