The Future of Work
As seen through 4 prisms
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Jobs have always been part of human existence. Initially, survival was our primary task: gathering food, facing danger, and passing on our genes. The Agricultural Revolution brought stability, allowing us to specialise in different roles. This sparked trade, cooperation, and the rise of complex societies. Centuries later, the Industrial Revolution reshaped the world once again, giving rise to modern society, with the factory worker as its defining figure. Eventually, the factory worker was joined by the office worker. And now, once more, the nature of work is changing.
THE FUTURE OF WORK
In this article, we examine the future of work through four prisms: industry and manufacturing; automation, AI, and robotics; business and value chains; and work and income.
When discussing the future of work, our thoughts usually turn to the more obvious – how AI, automation, and technology in general will change the nature of office work.
However, there’s more to it than this. We choose to start with industry and manufacturing, a segment going through profound changes, and not always related to technology.
Industry and Manufacturing
Although the hype around 3D printing has quieted down lately, it remains a significant current trend. Companies worldwide use it to prototype, manufacture one-off products, and test various components. As the technology matures with advancements in metamaterials and 4D printing, expect to see more localised production, potentially bringing manufacturing jobs closer to home and shortening supply chains. This shift aligns with a growing emphasis on sustainability and resilience. Whether it’s for small-scale products or large ones, such as entire homes. Local production also means local jobs, and so 3D and 4D printing may not only make supply chains “greener,” but also bring some jobs back.
Another growing trend is the DIY (do-it-yourself) culture. In other words, working for yourself. From designing (and maybe 3D printing) small objects or remodelling homes to blogging and self-education (with the help of online tools), the DIY culture shows no signs of stopping.
And it goes hand in hand with different trends – buying locally, sourcing locally, and growing community engagement. The impact of these trends on industry and manufacturing is clear. To attract and retain new customers, companies have to adapt to this new way of thinking about consumerism. It is no longer enough to provide customers with what they need or want – it has become important to have it done in a way they want (including where).
We can’t discuss industry and manufacturing without mentioning energy. But energy is a big topic. Global energy consumption has more than doubled over the last 50 years, and this trend is expected to continue. But in the future, fossil fuel energy will almost certainly be surpassed by “green energy.“ This represents a significant shift in the energy sector, including the distribution, type, and place of work.
With solar energy, electric batteries, wind power, and other sources of energy taking over, more jobs will flock into these areas, which require different expertise and skills.
Automation, AI, and Robotics
The impact of automation, AI, and robotics is pervasive, touching nearly every industry. While fears of mass job displacement persist, the reality is more nuanced. Many roles will be augmented, not eliminated, requiring workers to adapt and acquire new skills.
AI is already transforming the legal profession. For instance, take lawyers. While their jobs tend to seem exciting on TV, with the whole ordeal of trials, investigation, and negotiation, much of it is actually routine. From searching for legal documents that are relevant to trials to creating contracts or handling divorce proceedings. AI programs are increasingly capable of handling tasks involving large masses of data, such as legal research, contract review, and initial case assessments, freeing up lawyers to focus on complex strategy, client interaction, and courtroom advocacy.
We can also see artificial intelligence beginning to affect journalism. A lot of articles, maybe more than you realise, are already entirely written and distributed by artificial intelligence. Many of these include sports reports, earnings reports, financial market reports, etc. We’re still in the early stages of this: AI is quite good at creating flawless articles when the content is highly numerical or when it’s simply reporting an event that has occurred (such as an earthquake); it's less effective at other types of journalism, including commentary and investigative journalism. But it’s getting there.
Another example pertains to the future of education. There are about 3.2 million public school teachers in the US, and 0.4 million private school teachers. These jobs seem, a priori, pretty secure. After all, education has remained essentially unchanged for many decades. However, with the internet and its mass-scale platforms, which enable content to be distributed to hundreds of millions of people at minimal cost, we may be in for a revolution.
Traditionally, a teacher could teach one or two topics per lecture (which lasts about 1-3 hours) to a group of 50 people. Today, that same teacher can put the content online in the form of a video lecture or lecture notes and have it reach millions of people simultaneously, automating the entire process. Unfortunately, the cutthroat competition experienced online means that only a small fraction of those teachers would actually have a large audience. The role of educators is evolving from lecturers to facilitators, mentors, and curators of learning experiences.
Education is ripe for disruption. Online learning platforms offer accessible and affordable education to millions, often at a fraction of the cost of traditional universities. While online education faces challenges in reputation and accreditation, its flexibility and affordability are driving innovation in pedagogy and assessment. There’s also an incentive for more and more people to attend these “online universities”. While some of them still lack the reputation of traditional universities, they have a series of benefits. Students can learn at their own pace, with more immersive material, and they won’t graduate with a mountain of debt.
So there’s a big question mark on the future of education and teaching, which no doubt will have a profound effect on one of the most subscribed professions in the world.
But to all of the above, we can add others. According to Digital Trends, other professions at risk of being replaced by AI include chefs, financial analysts, customer service assistants, medical professionals, musicians, and other artists, as well as construction workers. It seems, however, that this list is far from complete.
However, the impact of AI advancements is normalising in industries and manufacturing in the same way as earlier automation and digitalisation revolutions. A new, wide-ranging, and systemic shift is gradually taking place, in which physical devices, digital programs, energy, raw materials, and organic systems are being interconnected, resulting in a significant increase in both efficiency and productivity. Silicon, as the platform of digitalisation and microelectronics, is getting replaced by new materials. The entire value chain of production, distribution, sales, and purchasing will be replaced by a new model, in which the role of humans will undergo significant alterations.
Of course, other trends such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will also shape the future of work in many ways.
Imagine surgeons performing operations remotely with AR guidance or engineers collaborating on designs in a shared VR environment. These technologies will demand new skill sets and create entirely new industries that we can scarcely imagine today.
The exponential growth of data necessitates the employment of skilled data scientists and analysts. Businesses need professionals who can extract insights from vast datasets to inform decision-making, optimise processes, and develop new products and services.
Robots are increasingly becoming our colleagues. While fears of a "Terminator-like future" are overblown, collaborative robots ("cobots") are already working alongside humans in manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare. These robots handle repetitive or physically demanding tasks, freeing up humans to focus on more complex and creative work.
Business and Value Chains
As the technology and social forces change, value chains themselves are also changing. Indeed, the nature of work is changing with them.
With the rise of the platform economy, the concept of having a “job” has had to be redefined. Today, platforms like TaskRabbit, Uber, Etsy, Lyft and others enable people to earn some extra money on the side or, if they choose to, make it their full-time job.
Platforms open up enormous opportunities for new products, services, and ultimately jobs, but also raise questions about worker rights, benefits, and job security. Before car-sharing or crowdsourcing platforms became popular, few would have come up with those ideas. Similarly, numerous new platforms are potential, and time will reveal which ones will bring about the most significant changes. Nevertheless, these platforms are changing the nature of work. They bring more possibilities and opportunities for all of us, but they also require an entrepreneurial spirit to make use of – something not everyone has developed.
Offshoring, too, has been a hotly debated topic. However, we may be seeing a reversal of this, thanks in part to technology. Traditionally, offshoring has been linked to low-skill jobs and competitive labour forces. It made sense offshore if anyone can do this job, and people on the other side of the world are willing to do it for 1/10th of what it would cost “here”.
But as low-skill jobs become automated, the need for offshoring decreases. If anything, there is a need for “reshoring,” as automated manufacturing and production require highly-skilled people to program, operate, and maintain machinery.
One of the most notable trends in business, particularly in business management, is the growing number of Y-Generation individuals entering leadership roles.
The Y-Generation (typically those born in the 1980s and 1990s) tends to be characterised as being more progressive, preferring flexible working hours, informality, and flat organisational structures. Whether this is good or bad, we can’t say. But we can say it’s different. Soon enough, the Y-Generation will be leading the world’s organisations. A tech-savvy generation that grew up in a globalised and connected world, they will have a significant influence on companies’ strategies, values, and culture.
How about Generation Alpha (typically born between 2010 to around 2024)? As the first truly 21st-century digital-native generation, they are hyper-connected, globally aware, and intuitively tech-savvy, expecting flexibility, prioritising personalised growth and holistic well-being, and often perceiving technology as an inherent part of their environment rather than a tool to be learned. This generation is poised to bring even more transformative changes.
Work and Income
Finally, we must talk about work and income. We’ve written extensively on this, in several other blog posts. However, if some of the trends above ultimately result in fewer and different jobs for us, we will need something else. Some have suggested a universal basic income (we talk about it here). Others have suggested a negative income tax (where, if you earn below a certain amount, you get a supplement from the government instead of paying taxes to them). Either way, a future where everyone can work and contribute meaningfully to society is far from guaranteed. It could mean just work. It could mean contributing meaningfully. Or both. However, organisations across the board must consider the implications of these scenarios and plan accordingly.
Today, most people believe that to get a job, they must have a degree. Or two. But will this still be the case in the future? Today, many organisations, such as Google or Facebook, would prefer hiring someone with proven programming skills, who has perhaps already built some programs or has shown extraordinary skill, rather than someone who graduated with a computer science degree. It’s not that degrees themselves are no longer worth much, or won’t be in the future. However, a rapidly changing world places greater emphasis on skills, prior experience, and the ability to interact with people, network, and resolve conflicts than it does on a piece of paper. Especially as education begins to move online, people can learn more, faster, and better. The inherent and perceived value of school or university degrees, therefore, is shifting.
Finally, on the topic of work, it would be difficult not to discuss dedication to the company. We’ve mentioned how the Y-Generation is soon moving into leadership positions. However, they have already filled many lower-level positions. And will continue to do so.
In some countries, especially in white-collar jobs, job-hopping is a growing trend. Companies face difficulties not only in attracting great talent, but also in retaining it. Younger generations spend less time in the same company than their parents did. This presents new challenges for companies, from training to motivating.
But motivation (and dedication at work) isn’t a problem for younger generations. In fact, not long ago, a low of 15% of German workers reported being dedicated to their work. This may be due to several factors, including work conditions, misguided reward and incentive systems, and ineffective leadership. Whatever the case, job satisfaction —both in attracting and retaining good employees —will continue to be an important topic of discussion. So there is some hope for the future of work (satisfaction).
The Future of Work
In this article, we have examined the future of work through four different prisms. While we cannot know for sure what will happen, it’s essential to monitor trends and developments that will shape its future.
This article is based on our work on the Futures of Work radar. Get more exclusive content by applying for a free demo and get access to leading futurist content here.
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