Future of work Insights from discussions building on an initial perspective by Andrew Curry of The Futures Company

The
Future
of
Work

Insights
from
Discussions
Building
on
an
Ini4al
Perspec4ve
by:

Andrew
Curry
|
Director,
Global
Knowledge
Lead
|
The
Futures
Company

Context

The
ini4al
perspec4ve
on
the
Future
of
Work
kicked
oﬀ
the

Future
Agenda
2.0
global
discussions
taking
place
through
2015.

This
summary
builds
on
the
ini4al
view
and
is
updated
as
we
progress.

Ini4al

Perspec4ves

Q4
2014

Global

Discussions

Q1/2
2015

Insight

Synthesis

Q3
2015

Sharing

Output

Q4
2015

The
Global
Challenge

The
global
challenge
of
work
is
two-‐fold.
First,
will
automa4on,
in
its

various
forms,
destroy
jobs?
And
second,
even
if
not,
will
workers

be
paid
enough
to
sustain
the
global
economic
system?

Manufacturing
vs.
Services

One
of
the
reasons
for
the
boom
in
living
standards
in
the
C20th
was
because

of
the
long
boom
in
manufacturing,
the
dominant
economic
trend
for
much
of

the
century.
Produc4vity
growth
tends
to
fall
as
services
become
dominant.

Peak
Globalisa=on

Globalisa4on
is
reaching
its
limits.
Wages
in
export
sectors
in
both
China
and

India
are
now
rela4vely
high
and
companies
are
moving
their
produc4on
closer

to
their
markets,
wan4ng
to
be
able
to
respond
more
ﬂexibly
to
demand.

Posi=ve
Immigra=on

Economists
agree
that
immigra4on
is
good
for
economies.
Migrants
tend
to
be

younger,
more
enterprising,
and
economically
ac4ve,
and
their
eﬀect
on

wages,
economic
growth
and
tax
contribu4ons
is
almost
completely
posi4ve.

Technology
Takeover

There
is
a
widespread
fear
that
the
rise
of
robots
-‐
or
more
exactly,
a

combina4on
of
compu4ng
power,
algorithms
and
robo4cs
-‐
will
destroy

the
labour
market,
even,
possibly,
the
very
idea
of
labour
value.

Good
Jobs

Companies
out-‐perform
through
a
combina4on
of
be[er
wages,
investment

in
training,
and
appropriate
technological
investment
to
support
staﬀ…
High

value
work
beneﬁts
individuals,
businesses,
as
well
as
society
as
a
whole.

External
Drivers

Much
of
the
labor
market
woes
of
the
past
decade
are
down
to
the

ﬁnancial
crisis,
reduced
investment
and
the
impact
of
globalisa4on.
Many

middle-‐skill
jobs
will
prove
more
resistant
to
unbundling
than
adver4sed.

Post
Modern
Workplaces

We
are
on
the
cusp
of
a
transi4on
to
a
world
where,
half
of
the
popula4ons

of
Europe
and
the
United
States
subscribe
to
post-‐modern
values
of

autonomy
and
diversity.
The
workplace
will
not
escape
this
trend.

Perfect
Storm

The
explana4on
that
seems
best
to
ﬁt
present
state
of
work
is
that
it
has
been

through
a
“perfect
storm”
of
a
globalised
workforce,
the
deskilling
of
rou4ne

work
and
the
shib
of
these
workers
into
manual
or
service
work.

Living
Wage

Un4l
very
recently,
the
idea
of
a
basic
income,
a
minimum
sum
paid
to
all

people
regardless
of
their
work
status,
was
right
at
the
fringe
of
poli4cal

discourse.
But
it
has
been
moving
rapidly
towards
the
mainstream.

Less
is
Not
More

Increased
automa4on
allows
us
to
produce
more
with
less,

decoupling
the
link
between
wages
and
produc4vity.
Many
na4onal

policies
have
to
address
an
increasingly
under
employed
workforce.

Smart
Mindfulness

We
take
more
care
of
our
smartphones
than
we
do
of
ourselves.

Many
corpora4ons
adopt
new
technology
to
help
workers
manage
stress

and
remain
both
physically
and
mentally
ﬁt
and
produc4ve.

Over-‐=red
and
Over-‐worked

Our
deﬁni4on
of
success
and
the
adop4on
of
an
always-‐connected
work-‐life

have
made
the
millennial
genera4on
more
stressed
and
over-‐4red
than
any

other.
The
high-‐achievers
will
con4nue
to
pay
a
high
price
for
success.

Hollowing
Out
the
Professions

Technology
is
challenging
the
white-‐collar
worker
and
automa4ng
both

middle
and
high-‐end
jobs.
The
future
will
see
fewer
accountants,
lawyers

and
doctors
and
a
hollowing
out
of
the
previously
‘safe’
professions.

Skill
Concentra=ons

The
growth
of
the
nomadic
global
elite
ci4zenship
accelerates
the

concentra4on
of
the
high-‐skill
/
high-‐reward
opportuni4es
within
a
select

group
of
globally-‐connected
ci4zens,
who
move
ahead
of
the
urban
pack.

Suppor=ng
the
Ageing
Workforce

As
major
economies
suﬀer
from
increasing
dependency
ra4os,
the
challenge

of
suppor4ng
an
increasingly
older
workforce
demands
rethinking
of
life-‐long

learning
and
broader
acceptance
of
the
cost
of
part-‐4me
ﬂexible
jobs.

Wi-‐ﬁ
Global
Nomads

For
some
in
the
knowledge
economy
the
poten4al
for
con4nuous
travel,

blended
with
part-‐4me
work,
is
focused
on
‘wi-‐ﬁ
hopping’for
regular
access

to
high-‐speed
connec4vity
-‐
no
ma[er
where
in
the
world
they
are.

Two-‐Way
Trust

An
increase
in
trust
between
employees
and
employers
builds

greater
alignment
and
enables
democra4sa4on
of
the
workplace,

more
ﬂexible
ways
of
working
and
more
eﬀec4ve
organisa4ons.

Surplus
People

We
need
to
make
posi4ve
choices
to
avoid
a
world
of
increased

automa4on
with
surplus
people
seeking
employment
and

greater
economic
exploita4on
of
those
in
work.

Making
Work
Work
(for
People
and
Work)

We
will
see
a
shib
in
priority
from
‘money
ma[ers’
to
‘meaning
ma[ers’.

This
will
lead
to
the
emergence
of
community
and
wellbeing

managers
in
organisa4ons
and
new
ways
to
measure
success.

Lower
Growth
Economy

Lower
expecta4ons
for
economic
growth
in
many
regions
will
see

greater
use
of
robots
to
increase
produc4vity,
changing
spending

pa[erns
and
a
rise
in
the
sharing
economy.

Inequality
Dilemma

The
inequality
dichotomy
in
developing
countries
con4nues
to
expand,
beyond

just
wealth
and
opportunity:
Gender,
race
and
skills
gaps
all
increase
and,
even

as
some
of
the
poorest
see
improvements,
the
wealthy
pull
further
away.

African
Spring

Ineﬀec4ve
governance
encourages
a
disaﬀected
popula4on
to
demand
new

poli4cal
leaders
who
put
the
needs
of
the
public
before
their
own:
Voices
from

the
middle
and
wealthy
classes
ini4ate
necessary
system
change
themselves.

Skills
Flight
vs.
Social
Isola=on

Economic
migrants
to
move
to
regional
economic
centres
of
excellence.
More

fragmented,
imbalanced
socie4es
are
leb
behind,
with
surplus
low-‐skilled

labour,
falling
wages
and
a
rise
in
poli4cal
isola4on
and
aggression.

Private
Investment
in
State
Infrastructure

Con4nued
decline
of
trust
in
Governments
leads
to
more
private
capital

ﬁlling
the
gaps
leb
by
inadequate
governance
and
inappropriate
investment.

This
includes
more
interven4ons
in
energy,
transport
and
educa4on.

Back
to
the
Village

In
developing
markets,
increased
societal
fragmenta4on,
oﬀ-‐grid
living
and
a

growing
disenchantment
with
the
ineﬃciency
of
the
status
quo
leads
to
a

return
to
community
‘village’
lifestyle
where
local
independence
reigns.

21st
Century
Organisa=ons

The
emerging
organisa4on
feels
very
diﬀerent
from
c20th
companies
-‐

collabora4ve,
crowd-‐funded,
ﬂa[er,
human-‐focused,
hyper-‐specialised,

informal,
localised,
out-‐sourced,
project-‐based,
purpose-‐led
and
virtual.

A
New
Social
Contract

Deﬁni4ons
of
success
become
more
personally
meaningful
to

each
individual
and
are
supported
by
employers,
re-‐purposed

unions
and
the
power
of
the
sharing
economy
network.

Constant
Learning
and
Skill
Development

Personalised
and
contextually
relevant
on-‐the-‐job
training

and
educa4on
will
extend
eﬀec4ve
working
lives
and

ensure
that
skills
are
constantly
refreshed.

Wisdom
Workers

Focus
is
on
enabling
reinven4on
stemming
from
opportuni4es
created
by

non-‐linear
career
paths
and
innova4on
networks,
giving
rise
to
the
‘wisdom

worker’
-‐
where
experience
is
the
cri4cal
addi4on
to
skills
and
intelligence.

Cyber
Reputa=ons

Personal
and
corporate
cyber
reputa4ons
move
with
the

individual,
enabling
transparency
and
accountability
about

performance
of
services
and
interac4ons.

Feminine
Spirit

Leading
organisa4ons,
in
par4cular
those
in
the
West,

promote
and

invest
in
women,
be[er
represen4ng
the
popula4ons
that
they
serve.

Many
beneﬁt
from
doing
so.

The
Fun
Factor

As
a[rac4on
and
reten4on
for
jobs
becomes
more
compe44ve
in
a
freelance

world,
companies
aim
to
“elevate”
the
workplace
experience
-‐
reducing

rou4ne
drudgery
and
emphasizing
self-‐actualising,
fun
experiences.

Future
Agenda

84
Brook
Street

London

W1K
5EH

+44
203
0088
141

futureagenda.org

The
world’s
leading
open
foresight
program

What
do
you
think?

Join
In
|
Add
your
views
into
the
mix

www.futureagenda.org

Future of work Insights from discussions building on an initial perspective by Andrew Curry of The Futures Company

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Similar to Future of work Insights from discussions building on an initial perspective by Andrew Curry of The Futures Company (20)

More from Future Agenda (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Future of work Insights from discussions building on an initial perspective by Andrew Curry of The Futures Company