What does the future of work look like in your organization?
I posed this question in my last post, here. Of course, there are several factors to consider when making such a prediction, and many of these remain unknown. One thing we do know with great certainty is that leaders and managers need to consider how to remain flexible, adaptable, and well informed on trends as they change, especially those related to Covid-19.
According to McKinsey, the pandemic highlighted the impact of physical proximity in the workplace, and spurred changes in business models. Based on their research in eight countries, including China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the USA, McKinsey found that the physical dimension of work is a new factor shaping the future of work, primarily as it relates to health and safety considerations. The four work arenas most affected, both short- and long-term, include:
- Leisure and travel venues (including restaurants and hotels)
- On-site customer interaction (including retail and hospitality)
- Computer-based office work
- Production and warehousing
Trends and the Future of Work
If you’re anything like the leaders McKinsey surveyed, you’ll see an acceleration in three groups of consumer and business trends that are likely to persist beyond the pandemic:
- Remote work and virtual interactions. According to their research, 20-25% of workers could work remotely three+ days/week on a long-term basis. This represents four to five times more virtual/remote employee work/interaction than pre-pandemic.
- Surge in use of e-commerce and other digital platforms. Digitization of products and services has grown two to five times during the pandemic. McKinsey predicts a shift to gig jobs in the independent workforce.
- Deployment of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). Their research found an uptick in the use of robotics, robotic process automation, and AI. In the July 2020 global survey of 800 senior executives, 66% indicated plans to invest in automation and AI, “either somewhat or significantly.”
McKinsey predicts that more than 100 million workers may need to switch occupations by 2030 as middle- and low-wage jobs decline, and more high-wage jobs increase. I’ll dive in to that in another post, but in the meantime, what do you think? How do you foresee the future of work? I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me here, on LinkedIn, or give me a call: 561-582-6060.
